Heralds rack up 41 awards

Herald Community Newspapers had a strong showing in both the New York Press Association’s and Local Media Association’s 2011 contests.

The Heralds picked up 25 awards at NYPA’s annual spring convention March 30-31 in Saratoga Springs. There were nine first-place awards, six second-place honors, eight third-place awards and two honorable mentions.

Randi Kreiss and Scott Brinton each picked up first-place awards for column writing in their respective circulation divisions. Jeff Wilson took first place for best sports action photo, while Herald Photography Editor Christina Daly picked up a second-place award. Lee Landor of the Malverne/West Hempstead Herald captured the top honor in in-depth reporting.

Last year’s series on water earned third place in the news/feature series category. Contributing to the series were Herald staffers Jeff Bessen, Brinton, Chris Connolly, Chris Engelhardt, Deirdre Krasula, Landor, Mary Malloy, Jackie Nash and David Weingrad. “You did an excellent job of tying a number of stories together with a common thread,” read the judge’s comments.

The 2011 high school basketball and lacrosse previews earned first place for best special section. The Herald also won first place in circulation promotion, best real estate section, best multi-advertising pages and best color advertisement.

In the LMA contest, the Heralds earned 16 awards, including eight editorial honors. Alex Costello, editor of the Oceanside/Island Park Herald, won first place for best feature story for “‘Pow! There was a gunshot.’” Landor captured a second-place award for “Tensions boil over,” which appeared in the Malverne/West Hempstead Herald. The Valley Stream Herald took second place for its coverage of the 2011 village election.