MV Times receives NENPA honors

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The Minute newsletter and the special section “Voices on the Housing Crisis” were just two of the first-place awards The Martha’s Vineyard Times received during the New England Newspaper and Press Association’s Better Newspaper Competition (NENPA) awards banquet over the weekend in Waltham. 

The event took place at the Westin Waltham Boston hotel, with representatives from several New England newspapers convening for a day of workshops and an evening of awards. 

Besides The Minute winning the “outstanding newsletter” category and the Voices section winning the “special section or editorial supplement” weekly newspaper category, The Times received several other first-place awards.

Art director and production manager Dave Plath was recognized for his “Wild things” design work in the “front page” weekly newspaper category for the Calendar section. 

Former editor George Brennan won first place in “headline writing” for “Penne for his thoughts.” 

Last, and certainly not least, former senior reporter Rich Saltzberg was named the “Reporter of the Year” alongside winning first place in “transportation reporting” for coverage of the Steamship Authority’s transfer bridges, and two first-place awards in the “right to know” category for his investigations into the Tisbury Police Department and the Oak Bluffs Police Department. 

In all, the Times took home 14 prizes, including several second- and third-place awards from NENPA. These included second place in the arts and entertainment section, second place for “spot news story” (Saltzberg) in the weekly newspaper category, second and third place for “best niche publication” (Edible Vineyard and Vineyard Visitor), third place for “best website home page,” and third place for “environmental reporting” in the weekly newspaper category (former assistant features editor Lucas Thors, Brennan, and Saltzberg).

“We are thrilled to have brought home awards from this year’s New England Newspaper and Press Association conference,” managing editor Connie Berry said. “As always, we’re very proud of our staff and their ability to work as a team to produce the best local journalism for our Island community. Bringing news and community-wide projects to our readers, as well as a five-day-a-week digital newsletter, is gratifying for all of us at The Times.”