This year’s New England Press Association (NEPA) annual awards dinner forsook the Park Plaza’s rubber chicken for the upper-scale poultry fare at the Marriott Copley Place. And the food’s not the only reason we’re glad we went.
In all, the Phoenix Newspaper Group harvested 23 prizes for works published between August 2006 and August 2007, including 16 first-place wins. To top it all off, the Boston Phoenix won the coveted George A. Speers Newspaper of the Year Award, considered the prize of prizes in the NEPA contest.
Allow us one brief excessive brag. The judges’ comments regarding our Speers win said: “After 40 years, the Boston Phoenix remains a model for alts, bristling with attitude and loaded with coverage . . .”
The comments accompanying our General Excellence grab were even more flattering and flowery: “The paper zigs and zags with nary a yawning take on situations.”
Thanks, we needed that.
Congrats to our combined staffs for their individual and collective contributions to this outstanding year. And we did it all without Tom Brady.
FIRST PLACE —The Boston Phoenix
General Excellence in the Alternative Newspaper class for the issues of November 10, 2006, and May 11, 2007.
Arts & Entertainment Section Alternative class for the issue of September 29, 2006.
Investigative Reporting David S. Bernstein for “$50 Million Mistakes,” an exposé of the high cost of settling civil complaints against the city of Boston (September 29, 2006).
Business Reporting Mike Miliard for “Choosing Our Religion,” his report on New England’s love affair with Dunkin’ Donuts (March 2, 2007).
Editorial Writing for Phoenix editorials on the machinations of former state attorney general Tom Reilly (September 8, 2006), hand-gun control (April 27, 2007), and same-sex marriage (January 5, 2007).
General News Story David S. Bernstein for “She Who Controls the Purse,” which ran down rumors involving State Senator Therese Murray and the Mass Tourism Board (February 9, 2007).
History Reporting James Parker for “You Say You Want a Revolution,” an account of the author’s weekend with a group of rockin’ Revolutionary War re-enactors (July 20, 2007).
Serious Columnist Harvey Silverglate for his “Freedom Watch” columns “Blues & Blood,” on local DOJ corruption prosecutions (September 8, 2006), and “Shut My Mouth,” decrying student self-censorship at Tufts and Brandeis (May 18, 2007).
Sports Story Mike Miliard for “Home of the Braves,” a nostalgic look at that other Boston baseball team (May 11, 2007).
Feature Photo Freelancer Eric Levin for his “Best” supplement photo of Brookline News, (April 20, 2007).
Personality Photo Freelancer Tanit Sakakini for her portrait “Horror Couple and Spooky the Hairless Cat” (December 15, 2006).
Illustration Freelancer Dave Curd for “Heaven & Hell,” our Ozzy Osborne vs. Paul McCartney cover illustration (June 15, 2007).
FIRST PLACE — The Portland Phoenix
Local Election Coverage The editorial staff for political-campaign reporting in September and November 2006.
Health Coverage Former managing editor Sam Pfeifle and freelancer Caitlin Shetterly for their first-person accounts of dealing with the health-care system (July 27, 2007).
Cover Design The Phoenix design staff (Kristen Goodfriend, director) for the “Why Bath Stinks” environmental cover (April 6, 2007).
FIRST PLACE — The Providence Phoenix
Environmental Reporting Freelance reporter Tim Lenhert for “Electronic Garbage,” a study of the glut of computer-hardware waste (November 29, 2006).
SECOND PLACE — The Boston Phoenix
Business Reporting Former staffer Camille Dodero for “Fatal Attraction,” a profile of death-obsessed Allston retailers Julie Carter and Troy Schoeller (December 15, 2006).
Personality Photo Freelancer Kelly Davidson for her HumanWine music-section cover (March 30, 2007).
SECOND PLACE — The Portland Phoenix
Government Reporting Managing Editor Jeff Inglis for “State: One Santa Okay; Another No Way,” a report on the state of Maine censoring graphics on beer-bottle labels (December 8, 2006).
Racial/Ethnic Reporting Writing-project student contributors Ali Mohammed, Aruna Kenyi, and Kahiye Hassan for “I’m Done Killing Hyenas,” a collection of excerpts from first-person accounts by young immigrants (May 4, 2007).
General News Former staffer Sara Donnelly for “Unvarnished,” an on-the-road account of a Brookings Institution fact-finding study of Maine’s economy (September 29, 2006).
THIRD PLACE — The Boston Phoenix
General News Story Freelancer and WBUR reporter-commentator David Boeri for “We Found Whitey Bulger and He’s Still Missing,” an investigation of the FBI’s inability to locate the infamous Southie thug (January 5, 2007).
Personality Photo Freelancer Kelly Davidson for her “Best” supplement photo of the staff of the Middle East (April 20, 2007).
