PG journalists excel in SPJ contest
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s work has been honored by the Society of Professional Journalists’ Keystone Pro Chapter, with journalists from the PG taking home eight first-place awards, three second-place prizes, and eight third-place honors in the organization’s 2021 Excellence in Journalism contest.
Among the pieces chosen for first-place honors by the judges, who came from the Louisville Kentucky SPJ Pro chapter, were a photo essay by photographer Steve Mellon on the 20th anniversary of 9/11, extensive food coverage by PG food editor Gretchen McKay and a feature on a PNC Park character by Abby Mackey.
The Post-Gazette’s first-place winners were: Sports page design; Steve Ziants; Feature page: Holly Artz and Daniel Marsula; Lifestyle/entertainment coverage: Gretchen Mckay, a collection of food stories; Photo story/daily: Steve Mellon, “On a damp day, painful memories at the Flight 93 Memorial”; Feature story/daily: Abby Mackey, “After 75 years and three stadiums, he’s ‘The Mayor’ behind home plate”; Feature photography/daily: Andrew Rush, A tractor working on clearing leaves crosses the recently opened Ridge Ave. bridge; Environmental reporting/daily: Anya Litvak, “Burning for bitcoin”; and Business & labor: Anya Litvak, Joyce Gannon, Lauren Rosenblatt,Kris B. Mamula, “The block.”
Second-place winners were: Sports/outdoor column: Ron Cook, a sampling of work; Lifestyle/entertainment coverage: Jeremy Reynolds, a collection of music coverage; and Health/ medical reporting: Kris B. Mamula and Alexandra Wimley, “A fight to survive.”
Third-place prizes went to: Education writing: Andrew Goldstein
and Anya Sostek: “Pressure to reopen schools continues to increase in Pittsburgh and elsewhere”; Column writing: Tony Norman, a sampling of work; Sports/outdoor column: Joe Starkey, a sampling of work; Sports feature: Matt Vensel, “How his late father keeps Kevin Czuczman cheery while waiting for first NHL action since 2014”; Spot news: Julian Routh, “‘A city is changed with all of us,’ Ed Gainey says after historic win”; Sports news/event: Mike DeFabo, “‘It was just time’: Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford resigns”; Health/medical reporting: Abby Mackey, “Lawrenceville couple opens their home to 5-year-old who bounced through foster families for years”; and News page design: Post-Gazette staff, a sampling of A1 pages.
A complete list of winners can be found here: https://keystonespj.wordpress.com/.