Editor's Notebook: R-M earns 5 awards in Gannett's contest; see what work was recognized

We had an editor, photo stringer and former reporter recognized recently in the Best of Gannett annual awards for work they did in 2021.

Former Register-Mail Photo Editor Steve Davis, who now is a stringer for us, won a Best of Gannett award for his video of the Christmas Parade.

This was the first-ever Christmas parade held at night in Galesburg. Judges said the angles of the shots made them feel they were at the parade.

It's an incredible accomplishment to be chosen best in the company for a piece of journalism, but Steve is exceptional.

Gannett is the largest newspaper company in the United States with more than 200 daily newspapers. For the annual contest, newspapers compete in four divisions based on size — Galesburg is in the small daily division.

The Best of Gannett awards are selected by 42 judges, who identify the best journalism among the company's newspapers.

Steve's video of the Abingdon-Avon playoff football game was honored as a finalist in the contest. 'Small town, big dreams.' showed Abingdon-Avon fans cheering on the Tornadoes.

Assistant Editor Jay Redfern had two stories recognized as finalists in the contest. Jay's story on a Galesburg native reporting from the scene after Florida building collapse was a finalist in the Breaking News category. And Jay's in-depth look into Bud Fowler's induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame was named a finalist in the Sports Reporting category. Fowler, who played in Galesburg, has been identified as the first Black player to play professional baseball.

With both of these stories, Jay went the extra mile and connected the community to these events. The breaking news story required quick reaction and the Fowler story took a lot of historical digging. Jay is such an asset to the newsroom day in and day out, not only with his direction of reporters, but also his reporting.

Finally, former reporter Jane Carlson's story about a Marine from Galesburg surviving the Kabul airport attack was a finalist in the breaking news category. Jane did a great job telling this important story, which again connected the community to a world event.

The Register-Mail earned the most awards in its  in the Best of Gannett contest, with five. The next highest number was three awards for a publication.

Having a smaller staff means fewer local news stories than five years ago, but it hasn't stopped us from doing quality journalism.

Tom Martin is Regional Editor for Gannett Western Illinois Division.

This article originally appeared on Galesburg Register-Mail: Register-Mail earns 5 awards in Best of Gannett newspaper contest