Newsday wins 4 awards in NY Press Club's latest contest

Newsday has won four awards from the New York Press Club in the group’s latest contest — a period that overlapped with the coronavirus pandemic.

The awards have been given by the club — which dates to 1948 — for more than 40 years to honor journalistic excellence.

In a statement, Newsday’s editor, Deborah Henley said: "We are honored to be recognized with the four awards from the New York Press Club. Congratulations to our colleagues for their documentary on the Grumman Plume, revelations of utility missteps during Isaias, COVID-19 relief coverage and finding humor during the pandemic."

Newsday’s winners are:

• "The PPP," by reporter James T. Madore, who localized news about the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program, set up to help businesses keep their workforces employed during the COVID-19 pandemic;
• "What went wrong: Inside PSEG’s response to Isaias," by reporter Mark Harrington, who investigated the utility’s failures during the storm last August;
• "The Bethpage Plume: Decades of Deceit," by the team of Robert Cassidy, Jeffrey Basinger, Matthew Golub, Paul LaRocco, David Schwartz, Doug Dutton, Chris Ware, Caroline Curtin, Laura Mann, Reece T. Williams, and Martin Gottlieb, about the aerospace giant Grumman’s knowledge as far back as the 1970s that its toxic chemicals had been contaminating local groundwater;
• Scott Vogel won for humor: "It’s a good time to be a dog."

The press club’s highest honor, the Gold Keyboard Award, went to CBS News for the network’s installment on military sexual assault. CBS News won nine awards. The New York Times won eight. The two news organization’s received the most awards.

The winners were in 30 categories picked from 600 entries and spanned TV, radio, newspapers, websites, news wire services and magazines, mostly from the New York City area but also from around the United States, according to a news release from the club.

An online awards ceremony will be held later this summer, the release said.

Debra Toppeta, club president, said in the release: "During a difficult year with numerous challenges, the work of journalists continued at a high level, a testament to their dedication to the profession."