(L-R) Mary Johnson, Marcia Chambers, Diana Stricker, Bill O’Brien. First row: Sally E. Bahner.
The Branford Eagle took home 19 Excellence in Journalism Awards last night, awards that covered the presidential campaign and its aftermath, the state campaigns of 2016, a unique planning and zoning case in Pawson Park, and Costco’s attempt to build in Branford.
Our veteran reporters and photographer and our summer intern were honored for their work in 2016 by the Connecticut Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) at a dinner held at the Grassy Hill Country Club, a public golf course in Orange. The Eagle won five first place awards, six second place awards, and eight third place awards.
Staff members Diana Stricker, Sally E. Bahner, Bill O’Brien, our summer intern Emily Patton, and our editor Marcia Chambers, were all honored for their work. Our five first place awards were won in the hyperlocal category for local reporting, audio storytelling, video storytelling, sports photos, and arts and entertainment.
The Eagle’s awards included three awards for audio storytelling for programs Chambers conducts on WNHH, the New Haven Independent’s radio show. Her weekly program “The Legal Eagle” won first prize for her story ,“We Are Not a Banana Republic,” based on an interview with Attorney Ed Marcus. She also won first prize for a story on the Legacy Theatre’s effort to open its doors in Stony Creek.
Entries were judged by out-of-state judges. In all there were 775 entries. SPJ was founded in 1909 and has chapters across the nation. SPJ entry fees go toward the SPJ budget for the year, including donations to student scholarships, student chapters, conferences and the SPJ Legal Defense Fund.
The Branford Eagle is part of the Online Journalism Project, a non-profit organization, which publishes the New Haven Independent and the Valley Independent Sentinel and oversees the publication’s radio station..
The Eagle’s Diana Stricker won first place in the competitive local reporting category for her story “Pawson Neighbors Protest Housing Plan at P&Z Hearing.” She also took a second place award hyperlocal award in the in-depth category for her story, “Legislators to Seek Update of Affordable Housing Law.” In the general column category, she took second place for her story on “A Witness to the Dangers of Police Work.”
The Eagle’s sports reporter Bill O’Brien took a first place award in the hyperlocal sports photo category for his photograph, “Up, Up and Away,” a photo showing a high school high jumper clearing the bar.
The Eagle’s Sally E. Bahner took a second place award for her story in the hyperlocal/Reporting series entitled “Election Reflection.” She also took a third place award for her story in the in-depth category, “Opioid Use Front and Center in Branford.” She, along with Stricker and Chambers, also won a third place award in the hyperlocal/government category for their story: “Strong Voter Turnout in Branford.”
Our summer intern, Emily Patton, was given first place in the local reporting video-story category for her story on G‑Zen restaurant chef, Mark Shadle. She took second place in the government category for her story, “Second Time Around, Kennedy Campaigns on His Record,” and third place in the feature category for her story “Kids Night Out Soars.”
Chambers took a second place award for her story on Branford High’s graduation, “There is a Place in My Heart for the Class of 2016.” She took a third place award in the diversity category for her story, “An Angel With Three Paws,” and third place for her Legal Eagle radio programs, “Klau: Trump’s Already Breaking the Law” and “Doc: Mentally Ill Overcrowding Prisons.”
Journalists at the event were reminded of the importance of the First Amendment within this contentious political climate and the role reporters play in preserving our democracy. The final page of the program prints the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
###