Shelter Island Reporter scores with Press Association honors: Takes home six awards for excellence
Your hometown paper has been honored with six awards for excellence at the New York Press Association’s annual spring convention, held April 26 to April 28 in Saratoga Springs.
The Press Association’s “Better Newspaper Contest” fielded 2,530 entries from 142 newspapers across the state. All entries were judged by the Tennessee Press Association. The competition included 70 categories covering the editorial, advertising and circulation efforts of New York state’s weekly newspapers.
The Reporter took home a first-place prize in one of most prestigious categories, the Sharon R. Fulmer Award for Community Leadership. The award was presented for a series of articles and editorials about the Shelter Island Heights Pharmacy cutting off Island residents’ access to Medicaid prescriptions.
Written by Staff Writer Julie Lane and Editor Ambrose Clancy, soon after the series concluded, the Medicaid recipients had their prescriptions filled.
According to the judges, “The staff went after a crazy bureaucratic nightmare to probe, report and hammer on government not doing its job for a vulnerable population. This series showed persistence — the consistent pressure and exposure likely was the fuel that heated up bureaucrats’ backsides to get prescription service restored to the elderly and low-income. Congratulations on this set of stories, which were thoroughly reported and well edited.”
Over the past nine years, the Press Association has honored the Reporter four times with the Community Service Award, for series on affordable housing, clean water initiatives and wetlands protections.
In Feature Writing — one of the most competitive categories — David Brush, our intern during the summer of 2023, took a third-place prize for his story headlined, “The Reporter goes to jail.”
David’s “lede” (newspaper speak for a story’s first sentence or paragraph) surely caught the judges’ eyes, as it did our readers: “Although the headline above might bring joy to a few readers of this newspaper, it’s not what you think. We went to show you a place very few Islanders have ever seen. And those few who have, well, let’s just say they’re usually a bit reluctant to talk about the experience.”
The judges, in awarding the prize noted: “Very clever idea, written with an understated and appropriately used sense of humor throughout. Humanizing the officers and the jail itself is a unique perspective to take.”
The judges recognized the talent and dedication of our photographer, Adam Bundy, who won first place in the Art Photography category for his stunning cover photo of a waterfront dawn. “When Mother Nature gives us the perfect ‘painting’ of light, it’s up to photographers to capture it,” the judges said. “Great choice of perspective draws the viewers in and makes them want to walk down the pier to see inside that boat.”
But Adam wasn’t done, taking first place in the Spot News Photography category for his vivid shot of the Turkey Plunge, an action photograph that leaps off the page. The judges agreed: “You can feel the excitement in the photo.”
Editor Clancy took third place in Editorial Writing, with the judges focusing on “three editorials — with interesting introductions — that call readers to see a segment of the population they might ordinarily overlook: local baymen, those plagued by addictions, and the young and old in poverty. While the baymen editorial suggests action through a vote on a local bill, the other two urge personal action by individuals on behalf of their fellow man and woman”
And Peter Waldner, the Reporter’s brilliant, indefatigable (never missed a deadline in 20-plus years,) cartoonist won second place for Editorial Cartoons. The judges said, “Funny cartoon, creative idea.”
Congratulations to all for these major achievements.
And most of all, thanks to the Reporter’s readers and advertisers, who support and inspire us, week in and week out.
