The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
DFM staff wins journalism excellence awards
ORANGE >> Staff at Digital First Media in Connecticut took home 22 journalism awards at the annual Society of Professional Journalists dinner this week.
The awards ceremony was held Thursday evening at Grassy Hill Country Club.
New Haven Register photographer Arnold Gold won four awards. In the feature photo category, he took home both second and third place for his photos “Renewing their vows” and “Grand opening at McDonald’s.” He won third place for his news photo “Bernie Sanders in New Haven” and another third-place award for the sports photo “Yale vs. Dartmouth football.”
Fellow New Haven Register photographer Peter Hvizdak won three awards. He took home first and second place for news photography with “Murder reaction” and “Clinton selfie” and won second place for his sports photo “Career vs. Cross basketball game.”
Connecticut Magazine staff took home six awards in total. In the magazine arts & entertainment category, writer Michael LeeMurphy took home first place for “Syrian-born New Haven artist turns the wreckage of his homeland into stunning art.” LeeMurphy also won a firstplace award for local reporting for “Community speaks out fights opioid addiction in Southeastern Connecticut.”
In the education category for magazines, “Landmark decision sets up battle over schools funding in Connecticut” by Lee-Murphy and Erik Ofgang won first place. Ofgang also won a second-place award for in-depth reporting for his story “OxyContin was born in Connecticut, did it fuel the heroin epidemic?” and a second-place award in the feature story category for “144 years later, a whale of a discovery.”
Connecticut magazine also took home third place in the leisure category for “7 of Connecticut’s best barbecue joints,” written by Ofgang, Kate Hartman and Albert Yuravich.
New Haven Register reporter Brian Zahn took home first place in the education category for “New Haven’s school superintendent prepares for another tough year at the helm.”
In the diversity coverage category, Community En- gagement Editor Shahid Abdul-Karim took home second place for “Police demonstrate traffic stop safety in a frightening time.”
“There is no ‘light’ in Yale’s decision on Calhoun College” by James Walker won second place in the general column category.
New Haven Register reporter Anna Bisaro won a third-place award for continuing coverage for “A look at sex trafficking in Connecticut.”
In the religion category, Ed Stannard took home third place for the New Haven Register with “Hartford Archdiocese plans to reorganize parishes, close churches as number of Roman Catholics in state drops.”
New Haven Register sports writer David Borges won first place for his sports column “How a phone call from Adam Greenberg helped change a kid’s life” in the Region A group.
The Middletown Press took home first place in the sports column category in Region B with “A personal thank you to Tom Coughlin,” written by Jimmy Zanor.
Cassandra Day of The Middletown Press also took home second place in the breaking news category for “Voting tabulators malfunction at five Middletown polling places.”
Also in the Region B category, The Register Citizen’s Catherine Guarnieri won a third-place award in the arts & entertainment category for “Music teacher opens studio in Bantam to inspire students across the globe.”