A letter from the publisher: The Times wins “Newspaper of the Year”

Dear readers, 

In our weathered newsroom on Beach Road, where the roof leaks, the heat barely works as the colder months set in, and there’s flooding whenever a nor’easter hits, our small and scrappy team of tough, talented, and dedicated reporters, photographers, and editors as well as design and production staff work together week in and week out to tell the stories of our Island. 

And I am proud to share some good news about this extraordinary band of brothers and sisters. Once again, The Times has been awarded “Newspaper of the Year,” as judged by our peers at the New England Newspaper and Press Association (NENPA), which represents 450 daily, weekly, and specialty publications across Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine, in the weekly small-circulation category. This marks the second year in a row that The Times received this honor, and it reconfirms the fact that our hard work trying to improve the paper and to serve you, our community, is recognized by the industry.

I also want to share with you two big wins for individual staff members who were recognized for their unique contribution to the community and to the newsroom.

Nicole Jackson has won what is known as the Cornerstone Award, which is dedicated to those in news organization staff who serve behind the scenes and get it done every day. As one of our longest-tenured employees and our senior designer, Jackson has shown extraordinary allegiance, dedication, and commitment to this organization. But her value goes far beyond her title. When we launched our new website back in April, Jackson quietly mentioned ways that the platform could be made better. She didn’t just say they should get done, she went out of her way, and outside the bounds of what she’s paid to do, to make sure the newsroom and the rest of the company were able to get those recommendations done so that all of you, our readers, could be better served by our online edition. In our nominating letter, Managing Editor Hayley Duffy and Dave Plath, art director, wrote, “Jackson is the kind of person this award was created to recognize. She works behind the scenes, often without fanfare, but her impact is everywhere. Her dedication, knowledge, talent, patience, and unwavering support make her indispensable to our publication and to our team.”

Jackson told us she was honored to have been recognized as The Times’ “cornerstone,” “but what feels the most special is that my team sees me that way. That’s the real award.” 

Another major award went to Abby Remer. As The Times’ lead feature writer for the past eight years, she was named the recipient of the Bob Wallack Community Journalism Award for her tireless and insightful coverage of art and theater, and her consistent storytelling about the diverse communities of our Island. Remer sees the potential for a good piece of writing in every corner of Island life, especially those special elements that most of us take for granted — a classic example was her piece for our Arts & Ideas magazine on the remarkable art collection in the Island’s hospital. 

This award is for “exceptional, sustained commitment to community journalism,” and for those who “play an active, constructive role in improving the quality of life in their communities.” 

For those of you who know Remer, you know she is the embodiment of this award that is named for a past president of NENPA, who had an illustrious 40-year career in community journalism across three states. Wallack passed away in 2014 at the age of 63, and the award and a fund were established in his name. Upon learning she would receive the award, Remer said, “I’m thrilled to be honored for writing both about and for the community I so dearly love.”

“Newspaper of the Year” is a big honor for the whole team, and every single person at The Times is a part of this. All of the work has a single goal: to serve our community. To enter this award for weekly newspapers, a news organization must choose one week in February and any other week between June 1 of the previous year and May 31 of the current year, and submit the full contents of that week’s edition. The judges are audience members who evaluate the printed paper and its digital editions based on a reader’s experience along the following criteria: the quality of reporting and writing; the use of photography; design and presentation; how it both serves and reflects the interests of its community by informing, educating, entertaining and inspiring its readers.

We submitted our Feb. 26 edition to show the true team effort that a newsroom can exhibit during an emergency. The Vineyard, and much of Southeastern New England, was hit by a historic blizzard that started on Feb. 22. Massachusetts declared a state of emergency, and 10,000 people lost power on the Island. The lead story was a culmination of reporting that our entire reporting staff contributed to, led by now Managing Editor Hayley Duffy. We worked through power outages, deep snow, and charging our phones in our cars to be able to continue reporting. Despite the difficulties, we worked tirelessly to get much-needed information to residents of the Island, from state recommendations to the current conditions. We were also capturing the historic nature of the storm: the nearly two feet of snow, the damaging winds, and the dangerous road conditions. The front page of this edition also highlighted other elements of the brutal winter on the Island. One story captured the struggle some Islanders dealt with in trying to keep warm, with those complaints leading to the state attorney general to reprimand AmeriGas, the company alleged to have failed in its role to serve customers. We also reported on the Island-wide efforts to dig out of the snow, with crews working nonstop to clear roads of debris and snow and restore normalcy to Islanders’ lives. 

The other entry was our May 28 edition, which highlighted a diverse array of Martha’s Vineyard’s experience. Our cover photo was of a protest in Menemsha led by local immigration advocates, which was accompanied by a story highlighting the release of a father and son, Rogerio da Silva Lima and his son, Nycholas de Al Varenga Lima, who were taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while fishing. This was a situation that rattled the Island community, coming around a year after ICE conducted a raid on Martha’s Vineyard, arresting 20 individuals. Our reporting stood out because we have won the trust of the local Brazilian community by reporting on their struggles and showing a commitment to telling their story. Another story highlighted in this edition was that the fate of the Island’s high school, which critically needs renovations that are expected to cost $333 million, was put in the hands of voters. We also showed a changing of ownership for a longtime Island institution: the Chappy Ferry.

As we all know, the local news industry has struggled mightily in recent years. It’s harder to build revenue, newsrooms are shrinking, more work falls on fewer hands. But our newsroom, which represents an unusually young and diverse crew compared with many other news organizations, embraces those challenges and works tirelessly to serve you. Our new advertising and underwriting team has also brought new energy and creativity, and we have established a nonprofit arm to support a new generation of Islanders to tell the story of their Island. We are trying on every level to be resourceful and resilient, and we plan to keep going. You in return have stepped up to support us by becoming paid members, or perhaps as advertisers. Those two forms of support — membership and advertising — are what make possible a truly community-supported news organization. We work together, and that has everything to do with our dedication to serve all who live on the Island year-round.

Hats off to the team! And to our readers, thank you for your support. We could not do this work without you.

Charles M. Sennott