Downtown Express columnist David Stanke took first place in the best column category in New York Press Association’s 2008 Better Newspaper Contest. The Express also won two other awards at the NYPA convention in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. last weekend.
“Great writing but better than that — thoughtful, fresh/unique perspectives,” one judge wrote of Stanke’s columns. “Literate and smart. Topical and pointed.”
Stanke, who lives across the street from the World Trade Center, wrote columns about Pope Benedict’s visit to the W.T.C. and how excesses in Middle America were bringing down his neighborhood, Wall St., to earn the award.
The judges were from the New England and Pennsylvania press associations and they judged entries from 182 papers across the state. The Express is in Division 4, the largest circulation category.
Jefferson Siegel, an Express photographer, earned a second place award in the feature photo category for his picture of divers jumping into the chilly Lower Manhattan Harbor in January to retrieve the Epiphany Cross, an Eastern Orthodox tradition.
“This photo captures attention and the reader is drawn to the caption to learn more,” one judge wrote. The picture was published on page 1 of the Jan. 11 – 17, 2008 issue of Downtown Express.
The paper won a second place award in the best multi-advertiser pages category for its Seaport Favorites pages highlighting small businesses at the Seaport. The campaign was conceived and designed in-house by the Express’s advertising and production departments.
“It was advertising that didn’t look like advertising,” one judge wrote. “It is what many advertisers want, ‘news.’ But the well-chosen typography, the classy layout use of pictures and complementary colors make a nice page.”
