Buffalo News reporters, photographers, graphic designers and columnists are winners and runners-up for 17 awards from the Journalists Association of New York, including one special award.
The awards were announced Saturday evening at JANY's annual banquet in Saratoga Springs. The News and the Albany Times Union, with 19 awards, dominated Division III for newspapers.
News columnist Sean Kirst took two awards – first place for sports writing and second place in the Column category. His columns, the judges observed, focus on "detailed portraits of ordinary people ennobled by extraordinary circumstances."
Winner in the Column category was News urban affairs editor and commentator Rod Watson. "Provocative without being preachy, illuminating without becoming pedantic, he doesn't hesitate to call people out for all manner of biases, himself included," judges declared.
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Recipient of a special honor was The News' longtime Albany Bureau chief, Tom Precious, who retired earlier this year. He was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Many of The News' awards were sports-related. The Live Sports Coverage category saw a double win – first place for reporters Mike Harrington and Lance Lysowski for stories on the Sabres' trade of Jack Eichel and second place for the entire coverage of the AFC Championship Game between the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs.
In the Sports Story category, first place went to former enterprise reporter Jason Wolf for a story on how how Chuck Crist's family discovered he had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), while sports reporter Jay Skurski won second with a personality study of Bills Coach Sean McDermott.
"Interesting exploration of the mind and tendencies of the coach who once again made the Bills competitive," the judges wrote.
The News also won both top places in the Feature or Sports Full Page Design for a sports page, "Breakthrough Season," and a feature page, "Gusto Guide to Summer."
The only award in the Video category went to News sports reporter Mark Gaughan and editor Geoff Nason for PlayAction. "The sports community in Buffalo is lucky," judges said. PlayAction this year transitioned to a podcast format with Mark Gaughan and Katherine Fitzgerald.
The News saw another double award in the Business Writing category, won by Jonathan Epstein for coverage of the booming Buffalo housing market, followed by David Robinson with an examination of the region's slow recovery from the pandemic.
The News won first place in the News Full Page Design category for his Page 1 layout on the resignation of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the swearing-in of his successor, Gov. Kathy Hochul.
News chief photographer Derek Gee was winner in the Spot News Photo category for his dramatic image of a rescue effort at the brink of Niagara Falls.
Coverage of Buffalo's 2021 mayoral race gave The News top honors for Investigative and Watchdog Reporting. Runner-up for Enterprise Reporting was The News' Matt Spina for a series on dysfunction in Erie County's jail and police operations.
For many of these honorees, it was the second time this year their work had been recognized by a statewide journalistic organization. They were among winners named by judges for the New York News Publishers Association in 10 categories in its annual Awards for Excellence competition. They included:
Distinguished Column Writing – Sean Kirst.
Distinguished News Photography – Derek Gee.
Distinguished Feature Supplement – Toni Ruberto, Terry Lew, Andrew Galarneau, Susan Martin, Jeff Miers, Ben Tsujimoto, Geoff Nason, Mike Connelly, Cathaleen Curtiss and Derek Gee.
Distinguished Page Design/Presentation – Terry Lew.
Distinguished Column Writing – Mike Harrington.
Distinguished Breaking News Covereage – Maki Becker, Tom Precious, Jerry Zremski and Bob McCarthy.
Distinguished Editorial Writing – Kevin Walter.
Distinguished Live Sports Coverage – Jay Skurski, Jason Wolf, Mark Gaughan, Vic Carucci, Maki Becker and James P. McCoy.
Distinguished Sports Writing – Jason Wolf.
Distinguished Sports Supplement – Vic Carucci, Mark Gaughan, Jay Skurski, Jason Wolf, Harry Scull, James P. McCoy, Mark Mulville, Terry Lew and Josh Barnett.
