For the second time in three years, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and its journalists have delivered the strongest showing of any of the newspaper’s peers in the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association’s annual Professional Keystone Media awards contest, collecting the prestigious Sweepstakes award.
The honor goes to news companies winning the highest total points in each division, and PG staffers this year won 14 first place, 8 second place and 10 honorable mention awards among multi-day publications with more than 50,000 circulation.
First-place winners ranged from a series that examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on four diverse neighborhoods in the City of Pittsburgh to a collection of work by longtime PG columnist Tony Norman to sports beat coverage of University of Pittsburgh basketball. Honors went to all sections of the newsroom including photography, graphics and design staffs.
The Post-Gazette also won the association’s Reader Initiative Award for its goodness section, which, as its title suggests, covers good news in the region. Launched in 2021, the section led by editor Bob Batz Jr. has introduced readers to stories of selflessness, comebacks, kindness and community outreach, including a holiday issue where readers got to tell their own stories about the best gifts they’d ever received.
More than 2,500 entries were submitted by 110 Pennsylvania news organizations, according to the Harrisburg-based news association. Entries — which covered 53 regular categories and 12 specialty categories across seven circulation and four broadcast divisions — were judged by journalists in Virginia, the group said.
"We have extremely talented and dedicated journalists in every corner of the newsroom, and winning the Sweepstakes Award validates that in a significant way," said Stan Wischnowski, the Post-Gazette’s executive editor.
The association says the awards “reinforce excellence by individuals in the news media profession by recognizing journalism that consistently provides relevance, integrity and initiative in serving readers and audiences, and faithfully fulfills its First Amendment rights/responsibilities.”
A complete list of the Keystone award winners can be found here.
Here are the PG’s honorees:
First place winners are: Enterprise reporting: Anya Litvak, Joyce Gannon, Lauren Rosenblatt, Kris B. Mamula, “The Block”; Ongoing news coverage: Ed Blazina, “Building a highway”; Business or consumer story: Lauren Rosenblatt, Steve Mellon, “COVID unemployment”; Editorial: Brandon McGinley, a sampling of work; Column: Tony Norman, a sampling of work; Sports beat reporting: Craig Meyer, Pitt basketball; and Sports Enterprise: Craig Meyer, Black men’s college basketball coaches.
Also taking first place awards were: Feature Story: Laura Malt Schneiderman, “The last massive vaccine rollout”; Personality Profile: Laura Malt Schneiderman, “The man behind Santa”; News Event Photo: Alexandra Wimley, “All right, have a good night”; Feature Photo: Andrew Rush, “Tractor clearing leaves”; Sports Feature Photo: Matt Freed, “A slew of Steelers”; Headline Writing: Mark Belko, a sampling of work; and Graphic/Photo Illustration: Ed Yozwick, James Hilston, “Surratt’s Deadly Trail.”
Second place winners were: Business or Consumer Story: Anya Litvak , Laura Legere, “A laboratory at scale”; Sports Beat Reporting: Jason Mackey, Pittsburgh Pirates; Sports/Outdoor Column: Gene Collier, a sampling of work; Lifestyle/Entertainment Beat: Jeremy Reynolds, classical music; News Event Photo: Alexandra Wimley, “Gainey defeats Moreno”; Feature Page Design: Holly Artz, a sampling of work; News Videos: Steve Mellon, “Finding peace at Tree of Life”; and Sports Videos: Alexandra Wimley, “Pittsburgh Rhinos.”
Honorable mention honors were given to: Investigative Reporting: Joel Jacobs, Ashley Murray, “Housing Misery”; Sports Feature: Brad Everett, “No ordinary Joes”; Sports Breaking News/Event Coverage: Jason Mackey, “Yoshi Tsutsugo”; Lifestyle/Entertainment Beat: Gretchen McKay, food; Sports Action Photo: Matt Freed, “Braves first base coach”; News Page Design: Natalie Duleba, Nora Smith, Diane Juravich, a sampling of work; Feature Page Design: Steve Ziants, a sampling of work; Podcast: Johnny McGonigal, Craig Meyer, “Pitt”; Special Section: PG staff, “Business of Pittsburgh”; and Diversity: Abby Mackey, a sampling of work.
The awards will be presented Oct. 12 during a brunch in Harrisburg.
First Published: April 30, 2022, 4:34 p.m.