Metroland came away from the New York Press Association’s 2005 Better Newspaper competition with nine awards, the most the paper has ever won, and finished fifth in overall contest points for papers that are not part of chains.

Former staff writer Rick Marshall took home the coveted Writer of the Year designation. “Rick’s writing pulled me in and made me care about his subjects and topics,” said the judges. Staff writer David King was designated second-place Rookie of the Year for what the judges described as his “skillful writing” and “brilliant word pictures of interesting people doing every-day things.” Both of these awards did not have size divisions.

In the paper’s size division (the largest), Metroland writers also got first-place awards for Coverage of Agriculture (for “Left Behind” by David King), Coverage of Education (for stories by Tom Hilliard, Shawn Stone, and Rick Marshall), and Coverage of the Environment (for stories by Miriam Axel-Lute and Darryl McGrath). Judges called Axel-Lute’s “A Falls, A River, A Power Plant,” the best story in the environmental category overall.

Metroland’s designers and photographers were honored with a second-place award for overall design excellence for a clean layout, high-impact covers, and high-quality photos.

The paper also received a second-place award for Coverage of Religion (for Shawn Stone’s story “Survival of the Fittest Beliefs” and Miriam Axel-Lute’s story “Countercultural Christians”), and a third place award for Coverage of Business, Financial and Economic News (for stories by Rick Marshall, Miriam Axel-Lute, John Rodat, and Erik Hage).

Last but not least, the paper received third place in the comprehensive Past President’s Award for General Excellence.

For more information:
Miriam Axel-Lute
News Editor
Metroland
518-463-2500 x141
fax 518-463-3726
maxel-lute@metroland.net