The Hudson Reporter chain of newspapers has won seven editorial awards and three advertising graphics awards in a prestigious statewide contest run annually by the New Jersey Press Association.
In this year’s awards, announced last week, Reporter Tom Jennemann won three separate awards for his coverage of various issues in Hoboken, while Al Sullivan, who covers Secaucus and the county, won for his coverage of the controversy over the removal of graves in Secaucus by the state Turnpike Authority. Jersey City beat reporter Donald Kelly won first place in the state for a pair of humor columns he wrote for the Reporter’s weekly arts and entertainment paper, the Current. Sharon Henry and Jennemann won for a series of thoroughly-researched articles on Hoboken life called “How It Came to Be.”
The graphics and sales staffs collectively won first place in “Best Special Section” for the newspaper’s Sept. 11 “Hudson County Heals” commemorative edition for the World Trade Center tragedy.
Art director Jennifer Merrick also won a third place graphics award in the “Best Freestanding Insert” category for an insert she designed entitled “HEA Headliner.” Artist Pasquale Spina and sales representative Christine Youngclaus worked together to win third place in “best single ad” for “The High Holidays are Right Around the Corner” for United Synagogue of Hoboken.
The state’s daily and weekly newspapers collectively entered a total of 2,205 articles in this year’s contest. The awards were announced a week ago Friday by the New Jersey Press Association. They will be given out at two banquets in South Jersey in the spring.
The articles that won
In what is considered the most prestigious category on the editorial side of the contest, Tom Jennemann and Al Sullivan respectively won second and third place for investigative reporting, being edged out for first only by a New Jersey Law Journal series on “Sept. 11 special interest cases.”
Jennemann won for his coverage of the proposed development at 101 Marshall Drive near Hoboken’s southern border. The project was granted many variances in 1998 and was starting to rise last year even though a law states that development projects must begin construction within a year of their acceptance by the board.
Sullivan won for his continuing coverage of the Turnpike Authority’s attempt to build an interchange over the bodies of thousands of former residents of the county’s now-defunct hospitals, jail and poorhouse.
Jennemann also won third place in the “First Amendment Award” category, a category that looks at articles about keeping government open and honest. Jennemann’s story was about a meeting held at the home of Mayor David Roberts in Hoboken last year, at which a proposed hiring the next day at a Board of Education meeting was discussed, according to some attendees.
Jennemann and Sharon Henry also won for a series of five articles in Hoboken called “How it Came to Be,” explaining the origins of aspects of modern Hoboken, including rent control, the Hoboken Parking Authority, and the waterfront.
The chain proved again that it has a sense of humor, as Jersey City beat reporter Donald Kelly took first place honors in the “humor column” category. Kelly submitted a pair of essays he wrote for the back page of the Reporter’s weekly arts and entertainment paper, the Current (www.hudsoncurrent.com).
Find them on the web
The Reporter’s publishers, Lucha Malato and David Unger, said they were pleased with the awards. “The recognition by our peers of the hard work and dedication of our staff to producing quality newspapers is particularly gratifying,” they said. “We want to congratulate all of our award-winners and the entire staff both for these awards and the excellent work they do every week.”
Art Director Jennifer Merrick was proud of her staff’s work that resulted in the graphics awards. “Before the press and beyond the ink, we have really talented artists,” she said, “and we are thankful for the acknowledgement.”
Editor Caren Lissner commented, “Hudson County has so many complex and controversial issues, but we work very hard to explain them so readers have the tools to understand them and react accordingly. Every member of our staff, no matter which department they’re in, contributed to the awards.”
The Hudson Reporter newspaper group, based in Hoboken, publishes weekly editions in Hoboken, Jersey City, Weehawken, Secaucus, North Bergen, West New York, and Union City, as well as the weekly Current arts and entertainment paper. To view any of these editions, click on www.hudsonreporter.com. To search the archives of a particular paper, click directly on the purple words “advanced search” and fill in the required fields.