Rich Saltzberg, former senior reporter for The Martha’s Vineyard Times, was named the “Reporter of the Year” at the New England Newspaper and Press Association’s (NENPA) Better Newspaper Competition awards banquet in Waltham over the weekend.
It’s the second Time Saltzberg has earned the award. “I am grateful for these high honors from NENPA,” he told The Times.
Saltzberg wrote for The Times as a full-time reporter starting in 2017. He first wrote for the newspaper as a freelancer in 2014. Saltzberg graduated with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing from Emerson College, and pursued a master of fine arts in writing at Florida Atlantic University. Saltzberg was an awardee of the Winterthur Maker-Creator Fellowship.
Saltzberg was named “Reporter of the Year” in 2020 among weekly newspaper reporters for reporting done in 2019. He was also the first-place recipient of NENPA’s right-to-know award in 2022, for his pursuit of public records in 2021.
Saltzberg is currently the development of regional impact coordinator at the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, after joining the commission earlier this year,
Other than “Reporter of the Year” over the weekend, Saltzberg also won first place in “transportation reporting” for his coverage of the Steamship Authority’s transfer bridges. He won two first-place awards in the “right to know” category for his investigation into the Tisbury Police Department and Oak Bluffs Police Department. He also won second place “spot news story” award for his coverage of the Ocean View restaurant fire.
Saltzberg jointly won third place in the “environmental reporting” weekly newspaper category with former editor George Brennan and former assistant features editor Lucas Thors for their coverage of PFAS and the school turf field.
“Reporting that upholds the public’s right to know is a lot of hard work, and in order for that work to succeed, you need a great editor, great publishers, and a great newspaper team,” Saltzberg said. “I have been fortunate to have all these elements guiding and elevating my work. The MV Times is part of the immune system of democracy. I’m proud of everyone at the paper, as these honors are a reflection of all of them.”
Saltzberg lives in West Tisbury with his wife, Amanda, and their daughter, Electra, who sometimes accompanied Rich on assignments.
WELL-DESERVED!!
Let him and his excellent reporting serve as an inspiration for current and future MV Times reporters.
Way to go Rich. While I miss our heady talks amongst my friends’ horses in WT years ago, I have watched your star rise at the MV Times. As another Brian said just previous to this? Well-deserved. GO EMERSON!!
My congratulations to Rich, Electra, and the entire MV Times crew. An honor well deserved!
Congratulations Rich
Congratulations!!
Congratulations, Rich. It was an honor to work with you on the MV Times.
What is the Island’s MAGA crowd opinion of Rich?
Do you have to take your shoes off to count them, maybe you will need a friend to help you with the count?