L-R: Top row:Mary Johnson, Bill O’Brien;bottom row, Marcia Chambers and Sally E.Bahner.
The Branford Eagle staff, all veteran reporters and photographers, won a record 18 Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) awards last night, awards that captured all aspects of Branford life.
The Eagle won seven first place awards, five second place awards and six third place awards. Staff members Sally E. Bahner, Diana Stricker, Mary Johnson, Bill O’Brien and Emma Zehner, our summer intern, were all honored for their work. Missing from the photo above is Diana Stricker, who, like a loyal journalist, was covering a meeting.
Our seven first-place categories won in the categories for spot news, video storytelling, general reporting, in-depth reporting, feature series, and sports photos. The Eagle took five second place and six third place awards.
The annual Excellence in Journalism awards were announced Thursday night at the SPJ Connecticut chapter’s dinner at Seasons restaurant, located at the Tradition Golf Club, a public course in Wallingford.
Entries were judged by judges from Hawaii and Colorado, all of whom are professional journalists. In all, there were 830 entries. SPJ was founded in 1909 and has chapters across the nation.
The Branford Eagle is part of the Online Journalism Project, a non-profit organization, which also publishes the New Haven Independent the Valley Independent Sentinel. The Valleywon first place in the general reporting on-line series category for “Derby Tax Watch.” Second place went CT BUs Diaries, a project by Southern Connecticut State University journalism students published in the New Haven Independent.
The Eagle’s Sally Bahner won three first-place awards, including first place in the highly competitive general reporting category for her story “Do NOT Feed The Waterfowl.” She also won for her feature series, “From Russia With Love,” the story of her international adoption of Celica, her Russian Blue kitten.
Bill O’Brien, our sports reporter took three awards, including a first place honor for his story, “Hornet Boys BB Team Wins Opening Games.” Mary Johnson, our photographer, won four SPJ awards, including first place for her “Harsh Snowstorm” coverage.
Marcia Chambers took two first place awards for two legal stories, one titled “A Conversation with Clarence, Sam and Sonia,” a piece about the visit of three U.S. Supreme Court Justices to the Yale Law School, and “When You Go to Trial, Will You Say No One is Dead?” a story about the ongoing murder case of Dr. Lishan Wang.
Stricker, a veteran reporter, won a second place award in the Arts & Entertainment category for her story “Tony Winner Brings It Home,” and she also took third place in the general reporting category for “Safety a Top Priority As Medical Marijuana Dispensary Opens.”
Emma Zehner, our summer intern, took third place in the spot news category for her story “Yale vs. Short Beach Hearing Abruptly Halted.”
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Congratulations all! You provide a very important service to the town of Branford and it is very much appreciated! Keep up the great work!