PBN lauded for mobile design, story on Providence parking

BOSTON – Providence Business News received first-place honors for Best Mobile Application design and best Transportation Reporting story in the New England Newspaper & Press Association’s 2016 Better Newspaper Competition. Awards for the annual program were announced at the NENPA Newspaper Convention, held Feb. 19-20 in Boston.
In addition to the two first place awards, PBN took home second place for both Best Overall Website and best Website Design for weekly newspapers, as well as third place for a Government Reporting story that focused on economic development plans of Gov. Gina M. Raimondo and previous administrations.
The first-place transportation story written by Mary MacDonald and looked at the extent to which downtown Providence has surface parking lots and why the city is trying to discourage that use of real estate. The May 4 story included a map showing that downtown Providence has 70 acres of surface parking, 14 percent of its total. The story took honors in the weekly newspaper with circulation greater than 6,000 category.
Judges for the contest noted that “from a business reporting and economic sustainability perspective, Ms. MacDonald tackles a decidedly ‘unsexy’ topic and infuses her feature with great story-telling skill while incorporating critical data and input from informative sources and subjects.”
The mobile application recognition was the only award given in the category, which included all daily, weekly and specialty publications in the six-state region. PBN.com adopted a responsive design format for its digital products in 2015, with the site reconfiguring itself from desktop to tablet to smartphone design depending on how the site is being viewed.
In awarding PBN second place for Best Overall Website for weekly newspapers, the judges said PBN.com “is an excellent and very professional website.” It was the second year in a row that PBN.com was so recognized. The judges who awarded PBN second-place recognition for best Website Design said “PBN.com is a well-designed website and easy to use,” a move up from third place in last year’s competition.
MacDonald’s July 20 story, “New governor. New plan. Different result?” examined the economic development agenda that Raimondo had gotten approved by the General Assembly and asked if previous governors’ plans had had their intended effects. It was judged in the weekly newspaper category with circulation greater than 6,000.
The year’s competition drew more than 3,100 entries from daily, weekly, bi-weekly and monthly publications throughout the six-state region. The competition was judged by 55 industry veterans and academics, with awards given in 75 editorial categories in both digital and print divisions.
Last year PBN was awarded first place for general excellence in the NENPA competition for a specialty publication.
Other newspapers in Rhode Island and Bristol Co., Mass., winning first-place honors included:

  • Fall River Spirit – human interest feature story
  • The Herald News, of Fall River – humor columnist, local election coverage, photo illustration, reporting on religious issues
  • Newport Daily News/Newport Life Magazine – illustration/infographics, overall design and presentation
  • South County Independent, of South Kingstown – general news photo, sports section
  • The Standard-Times, of New Bedford – business/economic reporting, business page or section, editorial/commentary page, feature photo, food page or section, personality photo, pictorial photo, sports story, sports video, spot news photo, website interactivity and engagement
  • The Sun Chronicle, of Attleboro – headline writing, overall design and presentation, special section or supplement
  • Taunton Daily Gazette – front page

In addition, Peter Pereira of the Standard-Times, of New Bedford, was named photographer of the year for the eighth time in the last dozen years.
PBN Staff Writer Eli Sherman received a second-place award in the Investigative Reporting category for work he did prior to joining PBN for the Waltham News Tribune.
At the organization’s annual meeting, held during the convention, PBN Editor Mark S. Murphy was elected president for a term of one year.

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