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Sunday, May 31, 2009

Pottstown Mercury staffers take top honors



Congratulations to my colleagues at The Mercury for winning various journalism awards in state and national contests. Pictured above, l-r: Carl Hessler Jr., Brandie Hessler, Michelle Karas, Evan Brandt and Nancy March.

From a story in today's edition:
GETTYSBURG — Staff and former staff members of The Mercury were among newspaper employees honored this weekend with awards at the Pennsylvania News Conference annual meeting of state news organizations.

Editor Nancy March and staff writer Evan Brandt were awarded first place honors in the Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors annual news and photo contests. March won a first place in the editorial writing category for the editorial, "State budget plan built like a straw house."

Brandt took top honors for column writing for a piece, “Remember kids ....”

March and Brandt also shared a second place award in the same competition for a public service entry, "Keeping local officials on track." The entry included news stories and editorials about Pottstown borough government throughout 2008.

Daniel P. Creighton, former staff photographer, received a second place award in the photo story category for photo coverage of a High Street fire last September, "Fire ravages three buildings."

Winning first place honors in the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association Keystone Press Awards competition were staff writer Carl Hessler Jr. and former staff writer Michael Hays, as well as Creighton.

Hessler and Hays won in the spot news category for the comprehensive single-day reporting of the Dec. 9 incident at Pottstown High School in which a violent threat by a student was uncovered. Creighton won first place photo story for the September fire.

Mercury photo supervisor John Strickler took top honors for a photo story in the Society of Professional Journalists Spotlight contest for "Fires reshape High Street," a pictorial perspective published in January 2008 on how fires have changed Pottstown’s downtown streetscape.

Brandt received a second place award in the same contest for environmental reporting for "An Absence of Data before Deluge," a news story from last year's watershed congress.

Creighton won an honorable mention in news photography for a single photo from the September High Street fire, "Tenants rescued from rooftops."

In addition to the state awards, several awards were also announced recently by the Suburban Newspapers of America for the 2008 Editorial Contest.

Creighton won a first place photojournalism award for the High Street fire coverage.

A third place for best breaking news story was awarded to staff writers for coverage of the High Street inferno in downtown Pottstown in January 2008. Staff writers who contributed were Brandt, business editor Michelle Karas and staff writer Brandie Kessler.

The Mercury staff also received a second place promotional community service award for ongoing coverage during 2008 of the Pottstown Relay for Life. The award acknowledged writing by Kessler and March, online initiatives by online editor Eileen Faust and photography and videography by Strickler, Creighton and staff photographer Kevin Hoffman.

The community service award was for papers of all sizes. Other awards were by circulation category.

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