The Press Club of Long Island honored the Long Island Press with 16 awards for journalistic achievement Wednesday at the group’s annual media awards contest ceremony at the Woodbury Country Club.
The newspaper scored awards from PCLI—the local chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists—in an array of coverage categories for reporting on crime, the environment, health, education and sports, among other issues.
First-place prizes winners included Editor-In-Chief Christopher Twarowski for environmental reporting with “Ripple Effect: Bethpage’s Toxic Plume Creeps Closer to Contaminating More Public Drinking Wells” and Managing Editor Jaclyn Gallucci for crime and justice reporting with “Identifying Princess Doe: 30 Years After A Girl Was Found Beaten to Death, Advances in Technology May Finally Bring Her Identity—And Killer-to Light.”
The paper won five second-place prizes, including one for education reporting with “School House Lock: Budget Troubles and Declining Enrollment Are Forcing LI Elementary Schools to Close,” by News/Web Editor Timothy Bolger and Staff Writer Lindsay Christ.
Senior Editor Spencer Rumsey, former editor Michael Patrick Nelson and Twarowski took home another for business reporting with “Paper Tiger: Under Cablevision’s Control, A Once-Feared Newspaper Has Become A Puppet; A Look Behind the Curtain.”
Twarowski and Rumsey also landed a government/politics reporting prize with “Hell or High Water: Despite NIFA’s Rejection, A Federal Criminal Case and Plants in Crisis, Mangano Forges Ahead With Sewer Privatization.”
In the health reporting category, Jackie Salo won with her story, “LI Schools Struggle With The Rise in Teen Suicide,” while Dave Gil de Rubio picked up an arts reporting award for “Westbury Music Fair: An Introspective Look at LI’s Storied Venue, Past, Present And Future.”
The Press also won nine third-place honors, including “Turf War: Is SCPD Playing Politics by Backing Out of the FBI’s LI Gang Task Force?” By Shelly Feuer Domash, Bolger and Twarowski, which ranked in the crime and justice as well as the in-depth report categories.
Also scoring was: A breaking news story, “NY Islanders Skating to Brooklyn in 2015,” by Twarowski, Rumsey, Bolger and Staff Writer Rashed Mian, “Major Concern: LI College Grads Face Uncertain Economy—And Future,” by Kevin Ryan for education reporting; “River Keepers: Protecting The Future of The Carmens River from Brookhaven Politics, Fears And Falsehoods” by Rumsey for environmental reporting; “Up All Night: With Not Enough Hours In The Day And Technology That Never Rests, Students Are Sleeping Less Than Ever Before, But at What Cost?” by Gallucci and Lea Weatherby for health reporting; And “Local Olympians: LI Hopefuls Go for The Gold in London,” by Salo, Mian and Alyssa Mellilo in the sports news category.
Rounding out the list were two videos: One accompanying the Ripple Effect story, by Twarowski, Mian, Scott Kearney and Sal Calvi for in-depth report; And for community news, a video by Mian and Twarowski accompanying Superstorm Sandy coverage.
