Worcester Business Journal won nine awards Saturday from the New England Newspaper & Press Association, including two first-place honors in NENPA’s Better Newspaper Competition.
In addition to two first-place awards, NENPA recognized WBJ with two second-place awards and five third-place awards for stories, design, and photography covering everything from the disabled workforce to local impacts of Trump Administration policies to the 40 Under Forty awards.
“Every single day, the hard-working journalists in the WBJ newsroom produce the best business news in Central Massachusetts,” WBJ Editor Brad Kane said. “Having an organization like NENPA honor us for that work is the icing on the cake.”
WBJ Staff Writer Mica Kanner-Mascolo won first place in the Social Issues Feature Story category for her “Overcoming barriers” story about how companies and workers with disabilities are increasing their labor force participation.
Former WBJ art director Mitchell Hayes earned first place for his overall design of WBJ and second place for his design of the special section 40 Under Forty, 25th anniversary.
Correspondent photographer Matthew Wright won second place in the Personality Photo category for his photos of Worcester Red Sox General Manager Brooke Cooper in the “Stepping up to the plate” story.
In addition to her first-place win, Kanner-Mascolo received two third-place awards:
- in the Racial, Ethnic or Gender Issue Coverage category for her “United Force” story about Central Massachusetts companies sticking with the diversity, equity, and inclusion commitments despite federal pressure to reverse course.
- in the Health Reporting category for her “A $250M gap in the safety net” story about the depletion of state funds used to help hospitals cover their costs.
WBJ Managing Editor Eric Casey won three third-place awards:
- in the General News Story category for his “Trump Administration seeking to close two Central Mass. Job Corps centers” story about the attempted shutdown of a job-training program.
- in the Government Reporting category for his “Trump cancels leases for 37% of Central Mass. federal commercial space” story about the impacts of the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency’s cuts in Central Massachusetts.
- in the Housing News category for his “Weathering the perfect storm” story about the slowdown in multifamily housing development.
The Better Newspaper awards were part of the New England Newspaper Convention held in New Hampshire on Friday and Saturday.
