Cape Cod Times wins 30 awards at annual Better Newspaper Contest
The Cape Cod Times took home 30 awards — including 12 first-place honors — during the 2021 New England Newspaper & Press Association’s Better Newspaper Competition.
Photographer Merrily Cassidy placed first in the personality photo and portrait photography categories for capturing the joy of sledders and for a study of a Wampanoag blanket dancer.
Doug Fraser won first place in climate change/weather reporting for “Winds of Change,” an in-depth piece about the environmental and political impacts from offshore energy plans. He also took top honors in spot news for “Lobster Diver Swallowed by Humpback Whale.”
Photographer Steve Heaslip photographer won a first-place news feature photo award for a photo of a monitor at a herring run, from the perspective of the fish.
Jessica Hill took first place in education reporting for reporting on racial disparities in school discipline cases, “A Disparity in Discipline.”
Reporter Jeannette Hinkle won a first-place human interest feature award for “Weathering the Storm” about a Hyannis family rocked by COVID-19.
Reporter Cynthia McCormick took first place in general news for writing about a family’s ill-fated attempt to have their daughter committed to drug treatment, “Judge Never Hears Parents’ Pleas.”
Columnist Saralee Perel won first place in the humor column category for “The Shot Heard Around the World/A Present for Bob.”
Photographer Ron Schloerb took home first place in sports action photography for capturing a “Flying Tag” that resulted in a baseball player being tagged out. He also won first place in feature photography for an osprey carrying away a fish, “Mid Flight Meal.”
Cape Cod Times staff and contributors also won a first-place history award for a joint USA Today multi-media presentation on the Pilgrim landing 400 years ago and the myths surrounding the first Thanksgiving, “A Fateful Encounter.” The project included a story written by Paula Peters, a former Times reporter and Wampanoag Tribe member. Also participating were Mary Ann Bragg, Eryn Dion, Jessica Hill, Dave Kindy, Katie Landeck, Eric Williams and Heaslip.
Nine Times staffers also won second-place awards:
Gregory Bryant won second place in the front page category for a tribute to Cape Codders who have perished from COVID-19.
Cassidy took second place for pictorial photo, and Doug Fraser won second place for presidential election coverage.
McCormick won two-second place awards, for best coverage of coronavirus and for crime and courts reporting.
Kathi Scrizzi Driscoll won second place for arts and entertainment reporting for “Our Story: The Wampanoag Tribe and the Pilgrims Who Followed,” on a shift in museum storytelling.
Schloerb won second place in three categories: feature photography (for which he also took first place); portrait photography; and sports action photography.
Schloerb also took third place in sports photography, meaning he won all three slots in that category.
Times staffers also won eight other third-place awards:
Fraser won third place for government reporting and science/technology reporting.
Heaslip took third place in the categories news feature photo (for which he also won first place); contemporary issues photo; and pictorial photo.
Hinkle took home a third-place award for social issues feature writing.
McCormick won third-place awards for health reporting and also for local personality profile writing.
The awards were announced April 30 during a ceremony at the Renaissance Waterfront Hotel in Boston.
The Cape Cod Times competed against the largest news publications entered in the contest, those with paid daily print circulations of more than 15,000.
This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod Times wins NENPA journalism awards for stories, photos
