Albany, NY — Syracuse Media Group won eight first-place awards Wednesday night in the annual New York News Publishers Association contest, more than any other news organization in its circulation category.
The work — featured at Syracuse.com and in The Post-Standard — was entered in the 50,000-175,000 newspaper circulation category. The winners:
This page, designed by Tom Schmitt, took a first-place award for Page Design/Presentation.
- Feature Writing: Julie McMahon. Her story about “The Face of Faith” reported on Michelle Fox, a woman who now uses a prosthetic face after being badly wounded by an accidental shotgun blast.
- Online Photo Gallery: Michelle Gabel. Her photos showed Michelle Fox and her life with her new face. Earlier, the gallery also won first place in the state Associated Press awards contest.
- Headline Writing: Chris Baker. He covered Carrie Underwood’s concert at the New York State Fair and wrote this headline over his report, “To whoever broke Carrie Underwood’s heart: Thank you.” The headline also ran in The Post-Standard.
- Sports Writing: The staff for coverage of the NCAA investigation of Syracuse University sports. The massive effort involved many reporters, photographers and editors. The ongoing story continued this year.
- Sports Coverage: The staff for round-the-clock coverage of the sold-out SU-Duke game at the Carrier Dome. In photos, videos, and stories, the staff covered every angle before, during and after the game on Feb. 1, 2014.
- Page Design/Presentation: Tom Schmitt. Schmitt designed The Post-Standard’s front page on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2014, showcasing the SU-Duke game. The presentation featured a headline with the sold-out attendance of 35,446.
- Feature Photography: Kevin Rivoli. His photo titled, “A kiss for dad the graduate,” showed Wayne Devendorf with 2-year-old Katie at his Cayuga Community College commencement.
- Multi-Media Presentation: Lauren Long. She won for her video and story about letter carrier Rick Stout, “Winter storm vs. the mail.”
The state publishers’ group gives only first-place awards in 22 categories.
Earlier this year, The Post-Standard and syracuse.com won more New York State Associated Press awards than any news operation of any size in the state. In that contest, the website and newspaper won 28 awards for writing, photography and graphics among newspapers with circulation between 45,000 and 125,000.
The publisher awards were presented Wednesday Night at a banquet in Albany.
