Out of more than 3,000 entries, the Greenfield Recorder won four journalism awards at the New England Newspaper & Press Association’s 2020 New England Better Newspaper Competition.
Of those, Andy Castillo, the paper’s features editor, placed first in the editorial cartoon category for an illustration depicting a burning candle published on the opinion page in honor of Michael J. Kittredge, II, the founder of Yankee Candle, who passed away last July. Judges described the cartoon as a “simple, powerful image mourning the death of the founder of Yankee Candle. Appropriately, a candle.”
Coming in second in the editorial writing category was a collaborative submission by Editor in Chief Joan Livingston, Supplements Editor Chris Harris and Castillo. Livingston wrote about the state’s open meeting law; Harris’ piece was written in response to the plight of Robert McCollum, who faced eviction last year after falling behind on a bad loan following a series of personal setbacks; Castillo’s editorial condemned the vandalism of two portraits of Joe Dulude II, a local drag artist.
The awards were given out at the newspaper association’s annual convention, which was held Sunday night at the Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel in Boston’s Seaport District. The Recorder competed against other daily publications throughout New England that have less than 20,000 subscribers.
In other categories, Castillo took second-placed for another original drawing that accompanied an article previewing a comic book festival held last year at Hawks & Reed Performing Arts Center in Greenfield. A third-place award was given to Castillo and Reporter Max Marcus for an arts and entertainment section they collaborated on last August. The section’s lead story, about Colrain artist Linda Baker-Cimini, was written by Marcus, who covers the Montague beat, with layout, editing and illustration by Castillo.
Former Reporter Joshua Solomon, who previously covered Greenfield, took home third place in the social issues feature story category for an article he wrote following the death of two people at a homeless encampment last January and documenting the challenges sex offenders face in finding housing.
“For a group our size, this was a tremendous achievement and a testament to your hard work and talent,” Publisher Michael Moses wrote in an email sent to staff. “I’m proud to be the publisher of these fabulous newspapers.”
The Recorder’s sister paper, the Daily Hampshire Gazette, also took home a number of awards. Photojournalist Carol Lollis and reporters Greta Jochem, Bera Dunau, Scott Merzbach, Dusty Christensen, Steve Pfarrer, and Jacquelyn Voghel, as well as sports reporter Kyle Grabowski, Editor in Chief Brooke Hauser and Castillo, who previously wrote for the Northampton publication, took home second- and third-place prizes in 13 different editorial categories. Reporters, photojournalists and a designer from two other publications owned by Massachusetts Newspapers of New England, including the Valley Advocate, also received honors.