Delmarva Now and Daily Times staff members win multiple awards for their work
Delmarva Now and The Daily Times staff members have been honored for their work and talents, earning multiple regional awards.
The Maryland Delaware D.C. Press Association awards recognize the best work of journalists in Maryland, Delaware and the District of Columbia. MDDC Executive Director Rebecca Snyder announced the 2021 awards virtually from May 10-13.
The Daily Times and Delmarva Now took home 13 first-place finishes, five second-places and a best of show.
The news organization was also recently honored with a Best in Gannett award for video.
And Delmarva Now and The Eastern Shore News, serving Virginia's Eastern Shore, also took home a first place finish in the Virginia Press Association Awards at the end of April.
The MDDC contest admitted more than 1,500 entries from 48 member publications among 85 categories.
There are seven divisions in the contest, which group member publications into daily and non-daily print and online-only categories, then further group them by circulation. These entries were judged by news media professionals at the Missouri Press Association.
Our award-winning work
Delmarva Now staff swept the Investigative Reporting category, with Kristian Jaime placing first with an article on offshore wind development's encroachment on fishing areas, "Standoff as sea sours fishermen, US Wind relations." Taking second place was Rose Velazquez and Matthew Prensky with "As outcry grows over OC Boardwalk vaping incidents, record detail viral video arrests."
Jaime also swept the Environmental Reporting category, starting with a first place win for “ ‘Water just kept coming.’ How flooding in Salisbury moves from headache to an emergency” on the ongoing flooding issues near the downtown waterfront and Fitzwater Street area. His second place story was "Hemp could be Eastern Shore's next cash crop if growers can beat heat and pests," on the possibility of hemp growing becoming a mainstay.
Photographer/videographer Lauren Roberts took home three awards. She took first-place for Features Video with "Haitians on Delmarva help their own as tragedy continues across Haiti," which focused on groups' efforts to support Haiti after an August 2021 earthquake and as violence, kidnappings and gang activity take over the nation.
Roberts, together with Thomas Costello of the USA TODAY Network, also took home a first place finish and Best in Show for "Delaware Farmland Power to Preserve," focusing on the pressure to develop and build while working to preserve farmland in the state. The video also was bestowed a Best in Gannett award for Division III, a prestigious award within the Gannett-owned news organizations. Gannett judges pointed to strong local interviews that turned a national issue into a powerful local story.
In " 'A guardian now a warrior': Why police may need to flip the script on training" Delmarva Now looked into what experts called an imbalance deep in the roots of policing and called for a cultural overhaul to correct it. Reporter Kelly Powers took first place in Public Service Reporting, with designer Kayla Golliher also claiming first in News-driven Art or Illustration.
Powers also claimed additional first place awards for:
Coronavirus in Communities wildcard category with “ 'The couldn’t survive without each other.' Salisbury couple dies minutes apart, hand-in-hand."
Business reporting for "Haitian business is growing on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Advocates want to keep it that way."
For their live coverage of the White Marlin Open, reporters Alec Branch and Ricky Pollitt, along with photographer Roberts, took first place for General Social Media Reporting.
Pollitt, along with Michelle Ganassi and Paula Ramirez of the Digital Optimization Team, took second place in Multimedia Storytelling for their work honoring the Delmarva Shorebirds' 25th anniversary year with a look at the Top 25 Players of All Time. Ganassi created her own baseball cards to accompany the presentation both online and in print. The print Sports Page Design for this project took home second place for Ganassi, Marci Jordan and Anthony Miller.
Reporter Maddie Aiken won first place awards for:
Medical and Science category with "Unmarked graves: How Salisbury university professor uncovered hundreds at local cemetery."
Arts/entertainment for "Preserving history: Korean War painting at UMES restored by University of Delaware."
Additional MDDC design awards went to:
Matthew Cardenas: Features Page Design, second place, Fall festival fun.
Denisha Kranthoven: Page 1 Design, first place, Summer bucket list.
Mike Batista: Sports Page Design, first place, "Finally! Prep sports return to Shore.”
This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: Delmarva Now, Daily Times staff members win multiple awards for work
