This was truly a staff-wide recognition, said Executive Editor Wayne Phaneuf.
SPRINGFIELD – The Springfield Newspapers won a total of 34 awards including nine first-place awards and second place in the area of general excellence in the 2012 New England Better Newspaper competition.
In the category of daily newspapers with circulations of more than 30,000, The Republican captured 24 separate awards in editorial content, and another 10 for advertising.
For editorial content, the paper won six first-place awards, 12 for second place, and five for third place. The newspaper finished second overall to the Cape Cod Times in the category of General Excellence.
"We were thrilled at our 24 awards for our efforts in editorial. Especially gratifying was the fact the awards represented a wide variety of expertise, from writing, layout and design, photography and illustration,” said Executive Editor Wayne Phaneuf.
"Hopefully the interest of our readers and MassLive.com audience are reflected in the good work including sports, religion coverage, arts and entertainment, food, business, health and history."
This was truly a staff-wide recognition, Phaneuf said.
The awards were announced at the annual ceremony of the New England Newspaper & Press Association Feb. 8 at the Park Plaza in Boston.
The total number of first-, second- and third-place awards exceeds last year when the paper won 23 awards total.
Photographers Dave Roback and John Suchocki each won first place in different categories.
Suchocki won for best pictorial photo for his Nov. 11, 2011, photo showing ice crystals clinging to a plant in downtown Easthampton. Roback was honored for best sports photo for his May 18, 2012, picture showing Longmeadow High School shot putter Devaughn Hill in mid-spin at the PVIAC Division I track championships.
Sports reporter Ron Chimelis won first place for his May 3 column titled “Here’s who’s looking at ya, Y-O-U-K!” The column featured Chimelis conducting an informal poll of the female membership of Red Sox Nation about the sex appeal of then Red Sox third basemen Kevin Youkilis.
Layout editor Patricia Thompson won first place for best food page for her May 3 Lifestyle page celebrating Cinco de Mayo. The judges wrote the page was “beautifully designed and full of Mexican-themed recipes.”
Layout editor Steven Nanton also won first place for best Living page on June 10 for a design that included art accompanying a story on Tiffany lamps.
The Republican also won first place in advertising categories, including for advertising promotion for special section, newspaper designed advertising insert and specialty publication promotion.
“It is very gratifying to be recognized by our peers in receiving nine NENPA awards across several different advertising categories,” said advertising director Mark French. “Our dedicated advertising and marketing staffs work tirelessly to create innovative advertising products containing messages to capture the attention of our print and online audiences.”
French said that when ads are served up properly in The Republican and on MassLive.com, advertisers reap the rewards with more customer traffic and sales.
He said that equally gratifying to the awards won is the diversity of the business categories represented. They include for an auto dealer, Lia Auto Group, a supermarket, Big Y World Class Markets, a fast food restaurant, Sonic Burger, and an oil company, Thibault Fuel.
Reporter Anne-Gerard Flynn won second place for reporting on religious issues with for her Sept. 10, 2011, article “‘Aroma of fear’ lingers for Muslims.”
Staff illustrator Bob Rich was awarded second place for his illustration, “A healthy dose of Rock ‘N’ Roll,” published on June 17.
Photographers Mark Murray, Michael S. Gordon, Roback and Suchocki each won second place awards in different photo categories.
Murray’s was for best spot news photograph for his June 4 picture of a distraught woman at the scene of the shooting. Gordon had two photos selected. His May 28 photo of a jubilant veteran greeting youngsters at a Memorial Day parade was honored in the category of personality photograph, while his Feb. 29 photo of a snowy scene in Longmeadow was honored in the pictorial photograph category.
Roback’s Feb. 15, 2012, photo of a star-eyed child looking up at a member of the Harlem Globetrotters was honored in the category of feature photograph, while Suchocki’s May 11, 2011, photo of Frontier Regional field hockey player Brenna Sicard in action at the Division II championships was honored in the category of sports photography.
Other second-place awards were given to business reporter Jim Kinney in the category of business reporting for his Feb. 12, 2012, piece "Specialty firms see opportunities," Chimelis in the category of local personality profile for his May 17 piece “The Dulchino’s Way in baseball and life,” and Chimelis again in the category of serious columnist for his Feb. 16, 2012, column “Life’s special moments usurp Super Bowl fans.”
The Republican also finished second in the categories editorial supplement or special section, for the Feb. 12, 2012, section “Outlook 2012: Reinventing the Valley,” and for the July 15 All-Scholastic Spring 2012 section.
In third place awards, Flynn was honored for health reporting for her Feb. 12, 2012, article “PVL beating breast cancer,” Patrick Johnson was honored for spot news story for his June 5 article on the shooting death of Ambrose, Phaneuf was honored for history reporting for his recurring Civil War pages, and The Republican for business page or section for “Outlook 2012: Reinventing the Valley.”
Also honored was the late music critic Kevin O’Hare for arts and entertainment reporting for his Oct. 9, 2011, article “Beat goes on for Hal Blaine.”
O’Hare, a music writer for The Republican for four decades, died Aug. 4 at age 55.
"Kevin loved music and his home town of Holyoke," said Ray Kelly, Arts and Entertainment editor. "It is fitting one of his final pieces was about Holyoke native Hal Blaine, who played drums for such superstars as Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and John Lennon."