Allie Ott, left, fist-bumps Austin Parker, who flew out from California to compete in the Para Sport National Championship at the Mount Van Hoevenberg bobsled track, in March 2022. Ott, who is in a wheelchair, said she had never seen so many people in wheelchairs in front of her at the same time, and they were all athletes. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

ALBANY — The Adirondack Daily Enterprise was honored with four awards in the New York Press Association’s 2022 Better Newspaper Contest, which were announced during the NYPA’s spring conference on Friday and Saturday in Albany.

The Lake Placid News, sister newspaper of the Enterprise, received three awards.

The awards are listed below with judges’ comments.

–

Enterprise

–

¯ Staff Writer Aaron Marbone won first place for Sports Feature in Division 1 (circulation under 4,000) for a story about a 10-year-old Petrova Elementary School student attending the 2022 Para Sport National Championship in Lake Placid. Comments: “Compelling and moving story. Great to see someone who is not typically covered in the sports section, be the focus of a sports story. Excellent writing and great use of quotes and people for the story. The story felt like the beginning of a sports career for Allie Ott, not just a story about her disability. The connection between the older para-athletes and Ott was another captivating angle.”

¯ Enterprise staff members Susan Moore, Carol Swirsky, Tori Marbone and Connie Martelle won first place in the Innovative Ad Project for Design an Ad (statewide award with no divisions). Comment: “Not a new idea but still a good one — love the execution with colored pencils. Eye catching, appealing, fun.”

¯ The Enterprise won third place in the Special Sections/Niche Publications (Glossy) for Arts in the Park (statewide award with no divisions). The ads were sold by Susan Moore, and the publication was designed by Tori Marbone.

¯ Aaron Marbone also received an honorable mention for Spot News Coverage in Division 1 (circulation under 4,000) for a story about a water line break that caused flooding at the Donald E. Smith Apartments in Tupper Lake. Comment: “Solid reporting and careful writing.”

–

Lake Placid News

–

¯ LPN Editor Andy Flynn received first place for Best Column for the “Lake Placid Diet” in Division 1 (circulation under 4,000). Comments: “Impressive amount of courage to take all this on and write so honestly about it. Frank, honest and no punches pulled.”

¯ Flynn received third place for Historical, Anniversary or Progress Editions for the Wilmington Bicentennial publication (statewide award with no divisions). Comments: “I really liked this special section. Good job on it. I graded you Third Place because of a few factors compared to the top two entries. Much of the content was (from credits) written by the local historical society. The newspaper generated content was two articles (both good) and a series of photos. Hence, I dropped you compared to first and second, which were much more staff-originated. The uses of maps was great; loved the cover image — really captured the feel and vibe, IMO. The walking tour details, while submitted, were cool, and it is chock full of interesting stuff and previews the festivities. What one of my old editors would call, ‘a coffee table at the lake cabin keeper.’ Good job and thank you.”

¯ Flynn also received an honorable mention for Editorials in Division 1 (circulation under 4,000). Editorials submitted for this contest were titled “LEAF grants help the community grow,” “Village should have recognized Juneteenth” and “Tim Follos was right.” Comments: “LEAF editorial very informative, Juneteenth recognition, appointment. All three editorials take a firm stance, educate readers. Way to go!”

–

Top awards

–

The Highlands Current of Philipstown and the Times Union of Albany shared top honors in the 2022 NYPA Better Newspaper Contest. They were both named 2022 Newspaper of the Year. This is the first year two papers have tied for the award.

The two-day conference, at the Hilton in downtown Albany, featured recognized industry leaders as seminar speakers conducting more than 60 educational sessions important to community newspaper personnel.

“Celebrating their accomplishments is something newspapers don t do often enough,” said NYPA Executive Director Michelle Rea. “Newspapers create a brand-new product on a daily or weekly basis, 52 weeks a year. They work on tight deadlines with small staffs, covering local government, breaking news, sports, business, entertainment, and more. Receiving recognition from their peers in another state is affirming and energizing. We salute them for the top quality, important work they do.”

The Times Union also won the Stuart C. Dorman Award for Editorial Excellence, winning first-place awards for investigative reporting; coverage of crime, police and courts; coverage of elections and politics; best column; best editorial cartoon; best freedom of information piece,; distinguished coverage of diversity; and feature photo. Dorman, who died in 1978, was an important fixture in the publishing world and once owned the Suffolk Times and News-Review.

The Post-Standard of Syracuse won the 2022 John J. Evans Award for Advertising Excellence. The award is named for the former executive vice president of Bee Publications in Buffalo who also served as president of the NYPA board.

The awards also included:

¯ Jeff Coltin of City & State, Writer of the Year;

¯ Christopher Gangemi of The East Hampton Star, Rookie Reporter of the Year;

¯ Mike MacAdam of the Daily Gazette, Sports Writer of the Year; and

¯ Dean Moses of amNew York Metro, Photographer of the Year.

The Suffolk Times and The Smithtown News won, in their respective divisions, the Past Presidents Award for General Excellence.

The Colonie Spotlight and The East Hampton Press secured wins, in their divisions, for best front page.

The award for best editorial page went to the Williston Times while The Suffolk Times took top honors for photographic excellence.

The Rosyln Times won the top award for overall design excellence with the Highlands Current taking first place for advertising excellence.

NYPA’s annual competition includes separate categories for high school and college newspapers.

In the college competition, The Ithacan (of Ithaca College) and The Impact (of Mercy College) shared college newspaper of the year honors.

In the high school competition, The Tower of The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry was named high school newspaper of the year.

In all, 154 newspapers submitted 2,657 entries to the contest covering achievements during the 2022 calendar year. The competition includes 70 categories covering the editorial, advertising and circulation efforts of New York state’s daily and weekly newspapers. Entries this year were judged by members of the Colorado Press Association.