“I think it is a reflection of the newspapers and the staff’s commitment to serving…
By Dustin Brown
The Times-Ledger Newspapers won two awards this month in a contest the Suburban Newspapers of America administers to recognize excellence in community newspapers.
“I think it is a reflection of the newspapers and the staff’s commitment to serving the community,” said Times-Ledger Publisher Steve Blank.
The Times-Ledger captured third-place honors in the categories of Best Feature and Best Environmental Coverage in Class D, which covers the largest newspapers in the competition with circulations of 30,000 or more.
The Suburban Newspaper Association is the only professional trade organization representing the suburban and urban community newspaper industry in the United States and Canada.
According to contest guidelines, the awards are designed to “recognize outstanding contributions to the editorial quality of suburban newspapers” and thus “to stimulate even higher standards of excellence among them.”
News and Qguide Editor David Glenn received the third place award in the Best Feature category for a story entitled “Not a place for you” in which he profiled Forest Hills resident and Holocaust survivor Bernard Gotfryd.
Glenn wrote his feature in anticipation of a book-signing Gotfryd was to hold for “Anton the Dove Fancier, and Other Tales of the Holocaust,” a collection of true stories he originally published in 1990 which was rereleased last year.
“When you confront someone who has lived through a literal hell like that, it gives you a perspective on things,” Glenn said. “How can you be upset over a parking ticket after you’ve spoken to someone who has watched his parents die, who has survived concentration camps, who has eaten only a crust of bread in 24 hours? It pales in comparison. If I convey that to the readers, I’ve accomplished what the story was meant to accomplish.”
The Times-Ledger received another third place award in Best Environmental Coverage for its extensive treatment of the West Nile virus outbreak in Queens, which was predominantly covered by reporters Kathianne Boniello and Brian Lockhart.
In 1999, the virus killed four elderly northeast Queens residents, sickened 42 others throughout the city, killed hundreds of susceptible crows and triggered a much-criticized citywide pesticide war on mosquitoes.
“This is the kind of paper where it’s became almost routine to win awards,” said Glenn, who has been with the Times-Ledger since last year.
Blank bought the Bayside Times and the Little Neck Ledger in 1989 and since then has added 11 other newspapers serving neighborhoods throughout Queens. They are the Whitestone Times, the Flushing Times, the Fresh Meadows Times, the Glen Oaks Ledger, the Queens Village Times, the Jamaica Times, the Laurelton Times, The Forest Hills Ledger, the Richmond Hill Times, the Astoria Times and the Ridgewood Ledger.
Reach reporter Dustin Brown by e-mail at TimesLedgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 154.
