Sun wins 6 NYPA newspaper contest awards

BY THE VILLAGE SUN | Winning honors for news coverage and photography and a range of other bread-and-butter community newspaper categories, The Village Sun took home six awards in the New York Press Association’s 2023 Better Newspaper Contest.

The awards were handed out at NYPA’s annual spring conference in Saratoga Springs, NY, on April 26 and 27.

Lincoln Anderson, The Village Sun’s editor in chief, won first place for News Story — the second most competitive category — for his article on the high-profile fight over a Soho rooftop penthouse addition between two uber-wealthy neighbors, ad magnate Federico Pignatelli and hedge-fund billionaire Ray Dalio.

The judge for this category commented, “Exhaustively researched and never uninteresting, this is not your average neighbor dispute story.”

Anderson also won second place for Coverage of Local Government. The five articles submitted included Mayor Adams answering questions about reining in e-bikes and other micro-mobility vehicles; a press conference by E-Vehicle Safety Alliance (EVSA) members demanding the City Council vote on Robert Holden’s bill to regulate e-bikes; West Village residents’ pushback against the city’s plan to install mammoth 5G cellular towers in their historic neighborhood; the City Council’s vote on making the Open Restaurants program permanent; and a judge ruling there is “no emergency reason” for the outdoor dining program now post-COVID pandemic.

“Articles are well-articulated with accompanying photos that bring the story to life,” the judge for this category wrote. “Issues are relevant to the community. Reports are executed in an objective manner that truly empowers the reader to have a dynamic understanding of the issue(s) at hand.”

In a prestigious category, The Village Sun won third place for Best Editorial Page. This includes the two-page spread of the editorial, letters to the editor, op-eds and any other writing, plus photos or graphics and the pages’ overall design. The entry included editorial pages from three separate monthly print issues of the newspaper.

“I appreciate the style and overall design of these editorials,” the judge for this category wrote. “The topics were relevant to the community and area and well written.”

The three editorials, written by Anderson, focused on the dangers of lithium-ion batteries (calling for a ban of e-bike shops in residential buildings); the debate over Open Restaurants and its in-road dining sheds (the paper called for a voter referendum on the overall program); and the disturbing local vitriol over the Israel-Hamas conflict (the paper condemned the heartless tearing down of “KIDNAPPED” posters, among other things).

Other writing in the editorial page entries included Westbeth scribe Kate Walter’s travails about being a feisty Democrat in “Trump land” on the Jersey Shore; poet Marcella Durand’s stinging takedown of an industrial-style public art project in East River Park, which has been clear-cut for the East Side Coastal Resiliency project; and a piece by another Westbeth writer, Gayle Kirschenbaum, on the apartment fire at the artists complex that killed painter Bill Anthony.

Best Editorial Page was an open category, meaning there were no divisions based on circulation size — so The Village Sun can lay claim to having the third best Editorial Page in New York State, per the contest. In most categories, The Village Sun was competing in Division 1, the smallest circulation size.

In another open, non-divisional category, the newspaper won honorable mention for Coverage of Elections/Politics. Articles in this entry included Mary Reinholz’s report on Rudy Giuliani having to sell his Upper East Side co-op as his ex-aide sought $10 million from him in “a lurid sex-assault suit”; three articles by Anderson (an exposé on two District 1 City Council candidates trying to game the ranked-choice voting system by cross-endorsing each other to beat incumbent Christopher Marte; a roundup of last June’s local Democratic primary election results; and a report on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s announcement of his case against Donald Trump for paying “hush money” to porn star Stormy Daniels to influence the 2016 presidential election); plus an action-packed article by Mason Leib on the chaotic scene — including gonzo G.O.P. Congressmembers Marjorie Taylor Greene and George Santos — outside the courthouse before Trump was arraigned the same day as Bragg’s announcement.

“Excellent coverage on a wide range of political topics!” the judge for this category enthused.

Q. Sakamaki won third place for Spot News Photos for his shots of pro-Palestinian protesters disrupting the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade by gluing themselves to Sixth Avenue and splashing themselves with fake blood.

“Way to get in the middle of the action!” the judge applauded.

Milo Hess won honorable mention for Picture Story for his coverage of an over-the-top “total art” performance in Washington Square Park by the Guerrilla Theater group.

As The Village Sun described the performance, “There was raw emotion, disarray, smoke, nudity, masks, fishnet stockings and generally stuff scattered all over the place. Some of the players were transgender.”

“Excellent and somewhat disturbing pics,” the judge noted. “Strong layout.”

The Village Sun’s contest entries were a mix of digital and print. The newspaper is online daily and since September 2022 has had a monthly print edition.

The 2023 NYPA Better Newspaper Contest was judged in January by members of the Tennessee Press Association. A total of 142 newspapers submitted 2,530 entries in 65 categories.

The winner of the Stuart C. Dorman Award (most editorial contest points) was Albany’s The Times Union, which sports a daily print newspaper, an annual revenue of $35 million and nearly 650 employees. Despite all that firepower, The Times Union just edged out The Village Sun in Coverage of Elections/Politics, winning third place to the Sun’s honorable mention.