PBN takes 3 first-place awards in annual business pub journalism competition

A FOUR-PART SERIES by PBN staff writers Mary MacDonald and Eli Sherman took one of three first-place awards that Providence Business News scored at the annual Alliance of Area Business Publishers editorial excellence competition.
A FOUR-PART SERIES by PBN staff writers Mary MacDonald and Eli Sherman took one of three first-place awards that Providence Business News scored at the annual Alliance of Area Business Publishers editorial excellence competition.

DALLAS – Providence Business News earned top honors in three categories in the 2017 Alliance of Area Business Publishers editorial excellence awards program, held Saturday at the conclusion of the association’s annual summer conference.

Gold awards were earned by staff writers Mary MacDonald and Eli Sherman, who collaborated on the four-part series, “The (Still) Looming Crisis,” which was awarded first place in the best investigative reporting category for midsize publications. The series – published June 10, 2016; June 30, 2016; July 21, 2016; and Aug. 19, 2016 – examined the pension and other long-term benefit funding crisis for many of the state’s towns and cities, which at last count had at least $5.6 billion of unfunded liabilities owed retirees and current workers. Judges, taken from the faculty of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, had this to say about the series:

“The team took a tough, complicated topic – a pension funding crisis – and did the impossible: They made it compelling, easy to understand and, most importantly, explained in human terms why it matters. Through deep reporting, great writing and smart organization, “The (Still) Looming Crisis” paints a stark picture of a huge problem with no easy answers.”

MacDonald’s look at the prospect of bankruptcy for Providence, “Drowning in red ink?” took the gold award in the best explanatory journalism in the midsize publications group.

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Judges felt that the story “provides a look at the causes of the [city’s] crisis and, looking forward, weighs the prospects of a bankruptcy. Excellent work weaving together interviews and reports.”

The third first-place award for PBN came in the best recurring feature category for midsize publications for the weekly One Last Thing. The feature combines a short essay by a local chief executive of a for-profit or nonprofit enterprise with a brief biographical sketch of the author and a fresh portrait. The contest judges said One Last Thing stories were “engaging and represent the diverse voices of its subjects.”

All in all, 111 editorial excellence awards were given out at the conference, taken from 483 entries from 43 publications in the United States, Canada and Australia. Named best small newspaper was the San Fernando Valley Business Journal, while the best midsize/large newspaper was Crain’s Chicago Business. Best magazine was D CEO Magazine. Named the best website was Crain’s Chicago Business, while the most improved publication was Business News, published in Perth, Australia.

PBN was named most improved publication in the AABP competition in 2016, while in 2015 it took third place in the best large newspaper category. In 2013, PBN’s website was judged second-best among the nation’s business publication sites. In 2011 PBN took first place for breaking news coverage for its immediate and follow-up coverage of the March 2010 floods in Rhode Island.

The three first-place awards in the national AABP competition follows a first place award in the Society of Business Editors and Writers annual Best in Business competition. A two-part series by MacDonald and Sherman was recognized as the best in the autos/transportation category for publications with staffs smaller than 50 (PBN has an editorial staff of eight). In the package MacDonald and Sherman examined the transportation and urban planning conundrum presented by the deteriorating 6-10 connector in the Olneyville section of Providence. One hundred and seventy-five news outlets submitted 946 entries in the SABEW program.

Earlier in the year PBN took home three first-place awards in the New England Newspaper and Press Association 2017 Business Newspaper Competition, as well as three second-place awards and one third place.

PBN staffers also took home three first-place awards in the Rhode Island Press Association’s 2016 journalism contest, which were awarded in April.

 

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