MANCHESTER, NH – Manchester Ink Link earned an armload of awards during the virtual 2019 NH Press Association Distinguished Journalism Awards held Aug. 12. The online event celebrated excellence in New Hampshire journalism. This is the first time the Inklink entered the annual statewide competition and earned 13 awards in all.
Rob Greene won first place in the Features category for his story about a Manchester teen who built a tiny home that is now being used by ORIS (Organization of Refugee and Immigrant Success) as an office and break room at their farm plot in Concord.
Pat Grossmith won first place in the Crime and Court Reporting category for a story about a tragic case of domestic violence that ended in the death of Jennifer Burpee.
Peter Noonan swept the Graphic-Cartoon-Illustration category in Division 2 with three political cartoons about the NH Primary.
Constance Cherise also swept up in the Entertainment Reporting category with a trilogy of stories featuring an interview with Livington Taylor, a profile of Manchester chanteuse Jodi Katz and her joyful ride as a back-up singer for Cher; and a thoughtful piece on the Mister Rogers-effect based on two recent films about his life and legacy.
Team members also earned several second-place wins – Andrew Sylvia for Sports Columnist of the Year; Rob Azevedo for Columnist of the Year, and Publisher Carol Robidoux for Journalist of the Year. Laura Aronson was also recognized for her contributions earning a second-place award in the Community Service category for assembling the comprehensive InkLink 2019 Municipal Election Voters Guide, with an assist from Robidoux.
The Ink Link also earned a second-place award for General Excellence/Digital Presence.
In addition, we are a proud member of Granite State News Collaborative, which took home several honors as well, including recognition for its Granite Solutions series, which took a deeper dive into the state’s mental health care system as well as the state-funded Hub & Spoke model, around addiction and recovery services. Robidoux is a founding partner of the Collaborative and serves on the administrative board.
This year’s panel of judges were selected from around New England as well from New York, West Virginia and Alaska. In addition to the professional awards, three retired New Hampshire journalists judged the college division, which was a new division for 2019. Winners in the college division can be viewed here.
Judges were allowed, but not obligated, to give out 1st, 2nd and 3rd place awards. There are no honorable mentions.
Below is a full list of winners in all categories.
- Class 1 – any daily news organization with more than four editorial employees.
- Class 2 – any daily news organization with fewer than five editorial employees.
- Class 3 – any non-daily news organization with more than four editorial employees.
- Class 4 – any non-daily news organization with fewer than five editorial employees. Class 4 included freelance journalists.
Feature Story
Class 4
Third Place
Ryan Lessard – Breweries Have a Bone to Pick Over ‘Selective’ Enforcement of Dog Rules
Second Place
Max Sullivan, Hampton Union – Trump signs: Neighbors divided, not divisive
First Place
Kathie Ragsdale, Granite State News Collaborative – Rest in Peace Red
Class 3
Third Place
Ben Conant, Monadnock Ledger-Transcript – Community mourns Jaffrey teen
Second Place
Tim Goodwin, Monadnock Ledger-Transcript – Visa woes force couple’s Brexit
First Place
Meghan Pierce, Monadnock Ledger-Transcript – A Star In the Darkness
Class 2
Third Place
Paula Tracy, InDepthNH – The Secret Life of NH’s Endangered Mountain Butterfly
Second Place
Kyle Stucker, Foster’s Daily Democrat – Inside Spaulding High School’s iconic clock tower
First Place
Rob Greene, Manchester Inklink – Tiny Home Built By Student with 5K Grant Makes Big Difference for NH Refugee Farmers
Class 1
Third Place
Sean Hurley, New Hampshire Public Radio – The Snow Rangers of Mount Washington
Second Place
Nick Stoico, Concord Monitor – D-Day: N.H. veterans recall service 75 years later
First Place
Hadley Barndollar, Deb Cram, Portsmouth Herald – Will to Walk
Feature Photo
In Class 4
Third Place
Carly Hippert, New Boston Beacon – A Century Apart
Second Place
Carl Russo, Derry News – Life imitates art
First Place
Jeffrey Hastings – 9-11 Memorial Stair Climb
Class 3
First Place
Ashley Saari, Monadnock Ledger-Transcript – Hive is Alive
Class 2
First Place
Harrison Thorp, The Rochester Voice – Hooping it up at Farm Museum’s Children’s Day
Class 1
Third Place
Mathew Plamondon, Nashua Telegraph – Celebration
Second Place
Mathew Plamondon, Nashua Telegraph – Night Out
First Place
Jason Moon, New Hampshire Public Radio – Birddoggers in Action
Feature Page
Class 4
Third Place
Christine Carignan, Business NH – Barber Shops: From Dying Industry to Booming Business
Second Place
Christine Carignan, Business NH – Marketing Tourism on a Dime
First Place
Christine Carignan, Business NH – The Business of Beards
Class 1
Third Place
Matt Hannon, Nashua Telegraph – Take Me Home Tonight
Second Place
Matt Burdette, Nashua Telegraph – Local artist’s exhibit lands at ArtHub gallery
First Place
Staff, Nashua Telegraph – A Flair for Fare
Photo Essay
Class 4
First Place
Jeffrey Hastings, Ride For The Fallen 7
Class 1
Third Place
Mathew Plamondon, Nashua Telegraph – Pumpkin Festival Fun
Second Place
Mathew Plamondon, Nashua Telegraph – Blizzard Blast
First Place
Geoff Forester, Concord Monitor – Monks come to town
Graphic-Cartoon-Illustration
Class 4
Third Place
Christine Carignan, Business NH – Nonprofits & NH / Jayson Martin, Bow Times
Second Place
Christine Carignan, Business NH – Nonprofits by the Numbers
First Place
Christine Carignan, BusinessNH – Designing Communities for Growth
Class 2
Third Place
Peter Noonan, Manchester InkLink – “NH Primary Secret”
Second Place
Peter Noonan, Manchester InkLink – “Trump Fourth of July”
First Place
Peter Noonan, Manchester InkLink – “The Best and Whitest”
Class 1
Third Place
Matthew Burdette, Nashua Telegraph – Patriots Pride
Second Place
Janis Carroll, Laconia Citizen – Snow, man
First Place
Tom Lynch, New Hampshire Union Leader – Who’s getting NH’s donations
Entertainment Reporting
Class 4
Third Place
Haley Dufour, New Boston Beacon – How to make your own NH maple syrup
Second Place
Tony Schinella – Long Lost Art Of Poetry Not Lost On Concord’s Currie
First Place
Keith Gentili, New Boston Beacon – Searching the area for the best New England IPA
Class 3
First Place
Meghan Pierce, Monadnock Ledger-Transcript – Third act for Whitmore family at Players
Class 2
Third Place
Constance Cherise, Manchester InkLink – Livingston Taylor: To Thine Own Self Be True
Second Place
Constance Cherise, Manchester InkLink – Do You Believe? Manchester native Jodi Katz on the Road with Cher
First Place
Constance Cherise, Manchester InkLink – Won’t You Be My Neighbor: What Would Fred think of the world we live in today?
Class 1
Third Place
Meg McIntyre, Keene Sentinel – Newtown native’s art installation at Keene State evokes the trauma of gun violence
Second Place
Peter Biello, Rachel Cohen, New Hampshire Public Radio – Snatam Kaur Takes The Stage at The Grammys
First Place
Julia Ann Weekes, New Hampshire Union Leader, –The Elvis Room
Health Reporting
Class 4
Third Place
Granite State News Collaborative – Solutions From The Frontlines
Second Place
Granite State News Collaborative – Hub and Spoke
First Place
Granite State News Collaborative – Follow The Money Project
Class 3
First Place
Abbe Hamilton, Monadnock Ledger-Transcript – CBD retail on the rise
Class 2
Second Place
Kyle Stucker – Foster’s Daily Democrat – Nourishing help: The evolving roles of schools
First Place
Harrison Thorp – The Rochester Voice – A mental health emergency gets a slow response
Class 1
Third Place
Jonathan Phelps – New Hampshire Union Leader – NH residents stuck with huge health care bills from suspended ‘insurance’ companies
Second Place
Leah Willingham – Concord Monitor – Opioid Crisis’s Impact
First Place
Taylor Quimby – New Hampshire Public Radio – Patient Zero
Business-Economic Reporting
Class 4
Third Place
Sheryl Rich-Kern, Business NH – NH’s Taxing Dilemma
Second Place
Roberta Baker – Encore Boston Harbor series
First Place
Michael Kitch, New Hampshire Business Review – New Hampshire’s independent bookstores turn a new page
Class 2
First Place
Garry Rayno, InDepthNH – Northern Pass Didn’t Want To Take No For An Answer
Class 1
Third Place
Adam Urquhart and Mathew Plamondon, Nashua Telegraph – Cost of Addiction
Second Place
Leah Willingham, Concord Monitor – Trudy Needs a Home
First Place
Michael Cousineau, New Hampshire Union Leader – What’s Working.
Crime and Court Reporting
Class 4
Third Place
Mary C. Constance, New Boston Beacon – Telephone scams impacting residents
Second Place
Tony Schinella – Bicentennial Square Attempted Murder
First Place
Anna Berry, Annmarie Timmins, Meaghan Breen, Granite State News Collaborative – Piece of the Puzzle: Drug Courts in New Hampshire
Class 2
Third Place
Harrison Thorp, Rochester Voice – Dean Smoronk: A life of drug enterprise results in lives lost
Second Place
Kyle Stucker, Foster’s Daily Democrat – A look inside ICE detention in Strafford County
First Place
Pat Grossmith, Manchester InkLink – Same man, same woman, same crime – but this time assault was deadly
Class 1
Third Place
Alyssa Dandrea, Concord Monitor – Fighting Back
Second Place
Jason Moon, Taylor Quimby, Todd Bookman, New Hampshire Public Radio – Bear Brook: A break in the case
First Place
Breanna Edelstein, Eagle-Tribune – Tuttle series
General News Story
Class 4
Third Place
Barbara Tetreault, Berlin Sun – City forced to close Brown Elementary School
Second Place
Bob Sanders, New Hampshire Business Review – Shaking off the shutdown
First Place
Kathie Ragsdale, Business NH – Laconia’s Balancing Act
Class 3
Second Place
Abbe Hamilton, Monadnock Ledger-Transcript – Town, mother at odds over grave decoration
First Place
Meghan Pierce, Monadnock Ledger-Transcript – ‘I always dreamt…he’d come home’
Class 2
First Place
Kyle Stucker, Foster’s Daily Democrat – Special report: Rollinsford water mismanagement
Class 1
Third Place
Grace Pecci, Dean Shalhoup and Matt Burdette, Nashua Telegraph – Fairgrounds Elementary School Bullying
Second Place
Mark Hayward, New Hampshire Union Leader – Conlon vs. MacDonald
First Place
Caitlin Andrews, Leah Willingham, Concord Monitor – Leung Investigation
General News Photo
Class 4
Second Place
Eric Anderson, Bow Times – Memorial Day
First Place
Jeffrey Hastings – Manchester Honors Veterans
Class 1
Third Place
Jeffrey Hastings, Nashua Telegraph – A Dazed Look
Second Place
David Lane, New Hampshire Union Leader – After the flood
First Place
David Lane, New Hampshire Union Leader – 30 happy coworkers
Special Section
Class 4
Third Place
Staff, Berlin Sun – Jericho ATV Festival Continues to Grow
Second Place
Christine Carignan, Matthew J. Mowry, and staff, Business NH – 2019 Human Resources Guide
First Place
Christine Carignan, Matthew J. Mowry, and staff, Business NH – Health Care Guide
Class 1
Third Place
Lloyd Jones, Conway Daily Sun – “Winter Sports”
Second Place
Nashua Telegraph – 40 Under Forty
First Place
Manchester Union Leader – New Hampshire Innovators
Magazine Cover
In Class 4
Third Place
Christine Carignan, Trayce Gregoire, Business NH – NH’s Top Women-Led Businesses
Second Place
Christine Carignan, BusinessNH – The Business of Beards
First Place
Christine Carignan, Business NH – Ageism and NH’s Workforce
Class 1
First Place
Lee Guerringue, Conway Daily Sun – North Conway Winter, 2020
Front page
Class 1
Third Place
Tom Lynch, New Hampshire Union Leader – 15-hour hotel standoff leaves 3 dead
Second Place
Matthew Burdette, Nashua Telegraph – Don’t Drink the Water
First Place
Barbara Anderson, New Hampshire Union Leader – Tragedy on the Highway
Sports News
Class 3
Second Place
Ben Conant, Monadnock Ledger-Transcript – Leaving a legacy
First Place
Ben Conant, Monadnock Ledger-Transcript – Game of a lifetime
Class 1
Third Place
Tom King, Nashua Telegraph – Silver Knights
Second Place
Tim O’Sullivan, Concord Monitor – Concord’s Blake officially named New York Yankees pitching coach
First Place
Tom King, Nashua Telegraph – Super Bowl
Sports Photo
Class 4
First Place
Jeffrey Hastings – One Last Defensive Move
Class 3
Third Place
Ben Conant, Monadnock Ledger-Transcript – Neal Brennan Comebacker
Second Place
Ben Conant, Monadnock Ledger-Transcript – Molly Dishong alpine skiing
First Place
Ben Conant, Monadnock Ledger-Transcript – Haylie Drew Long Jump
Class 1
Third Place
Carl Russo, Eagle-Tribune – Rare air
Second Place
Geoff Forester, Concord Monitor – Biker Catchup
First Place
Geoff Forester, Concord Monitor – Ouch
Sports Feature
Class 4
First Place
Steve Enman, Berlin Sun – Remembering a disaster: 50 years after the Notre Dame Arena collapse
Class 3
First Place
Ben Conant, Monadnock Ledger-Transcript – Helping student-athletes ‘make the most of it’,
Class 2
First Place
Mike Whaley, Foster’s Daily Democrat – Recovering Friel recounts near-death experience
Class 1
Third Place
Lloyd Jones, Conway Daily Sun – Camden Bailey
Second Place
Tom King, Nashua Telegraph –Lyzsczyk will catch on quickly at Rivier
First Place
Tim O’Sullivan, Concord Monitor – Basketball helps Pembroke star senior overcome anxiety
Sports Feature Photo
Class 4
First Place
Jeffrey Hastings – Celebrating Boston Style
Class 1
Third Place
Adam Urquhart, Nashua Telegraph – A Cut Above
Second Place
Geoff Forester, Concord Monitor – Soccer Champs Again
First Place
Geoff Forester, Concord Monitor – Baseball bubble
Sports Columnist
In Class 2
Third Place
Andrew Sylvia, Manchester Ink Link
Second Place
George Liset, InDepthNH
First Place
Mike Whaley, Foster’s Daily Democrat
In Class 1
Third Place
Alan Greenwood, Nashua Telegraph
Second Place
Hector Longo, Nashua Telegraph
First Place
Dean Shalhoup, Nashua Telegraph
Sports Page
Class 1
Third Place
Alan Greenwood, Nashua Telegraph – Stanley Cup Final Game 7
Second Place
Alan Greenwood, Nashua Telegraph – Pats are 9-1
First Place
Alan Greenwood, Nashua Telegraph – Victorious
Spot News Photo
Class 4
Third Place
Tony Schinella – Single-Vehicle Rollover Crash Reported In Concord’s West End
Second Place
Keith Gentili, New Boston Beacon – Ice Jam 2: Back to the River
First Place
Jeffrey Hastings – Paramedics Revive Dogs Rescued From Fire
Class 3
Second Place
Ben Conant, Monadnock Ledger-Transcript – Pinning down votes
First Place
Ben Conant, Monadnock Ledger-Transcript – Blaze of Glory
Class 2
First Place
Harrison Thorp, The Rochester Voice, Veterans get a warm thank you for their service
Class 1
Third Place
Mathew Plamondon, Nashua Telegraph – Only a Drill
Second Place
Mathew Plamondon, Nashua Telegraph – River Action
First Place
Ali Oshinskie, New Hampshire Public Radio – Bear Brook Victims Identified
Spot news reporting
Class 4
First Place
Barbara Tetreault, Berlin Sun – Driver charged with killing 7 in horrific Randolph crash
Class 3
Second Place
Meghan Pierce, Monadnock Ledger-Transcript – Teen burned in Tesla crash dies
First Place
Ashley Saari, Monadnock Ledger-Transcript – KSC student injured in Dublin crash
Class 2
Second Place
Harrison Thorp, The Rochester Voice – Gunman shoots at officer, holes up in woods
First Place
Kyle Stucker, Foster’s Daily Democrat – ‘People will die’: Body bags protest urges opening shelters
Class 1
Third Place
Michael Cousineau, Todd Feathers and Mark Hayward, New Hampshire Union Leader – 15-hour hotel standoff leaves 3 dead
Second Place
Adam Drapcho, Michael Mortensen, Laconia Daily Sun – Two friends killed when boats collide
First Place
Staff, New Hampshire Union Leader – Tragedy on the Highway
Investigative Story/Series
Class 4
Second Place
Tony Schinella – Concord School Officials Not Credentialed Series
First Place
Granite State News Collaborative – Hub and Spoke Investigation
Class 2
First Place
Nancy West, InDepthNH – Should Police Investigate Their Own After Officer-Involved Shootings?
Class 1
Third Place
Caitlin Andrews, Leah Willingham, Concord Monitor – Leung Investigation
Second Place
Casey McDermott – NHPR – Lawmakers’ Personal and Public Interests Often Overlap
First Place
Casey McDermott – New Hampshire Public Radio – As Lobbying in N.H. Grows More Complex, It’s Nearly Impossible to Follow the Money
Editorial Writing
Class 4
Third Place
Matthew J. Mowry, Business NH
Second Place
Patrick Cronin, Hampton Union
First Place
Patrick Cronin, Exeter News-Letter
Class 1
Third Place
Matthew Burdette – Nashua Telegraph
Second Place
Bill Bilodeau – Keene Sentinel
First Place
Casey Junkins – Nashua Telegraph
Podcast Limited Series
Class 1
Second Place
Taylor Quimby, New Hampshire Public Radio – Patient Zero
First Place
Lauren Chooljian, Jack Rodolico, New Hampshire Public Radio – Stranglehold
Podcast – Reoccurring
Class 2
First Place
Wayne D. King, InDepthNH – NH Secrets, Legends and Lore
Class 1
Second Place
Nick Capodice, Hannah McCarthy, New Hampshire Public Radio – Civics 101
First Place
Sam Evans-Brown, New Hampshire Public Radio – Outside/In
Best Use Social Media
In Class 1
Third Place
Dan Tuohy, New Hampshire Public Radio – New Hampshire Presidential Primary
Second Place
Staff, New Hampshire Public Radio – Exploring Route 4
First Place
Dan Tuohy, New Hampshire Public Radio – Trump Rally
Best Use of Audio – Feature
Class 1
Third Place
Jason Moon, New Hampshire Public Radio – Tired of Campaign ‘Manipulation’ N.H. Voters Get Trained in the Art of the Bird Dog
Second Place
Sean Hurley, New Hampshire Public Radio – Wind, Footsteps, White Snow: Spending The Night At Mount Washington’s Harvard Cabin
First Place
Todd Bookman, New Hampshire Public Radio – Model Citizen? No. But Exeter Man Is At Center of First Amendment Dispute
Best Use of Audio – News
In Class 1
Third Place
Todd Bookman, New Hampshire Public Radio – Poor? Found Not Guilty? N.H. Sends You a Bill, Anyway
Second Place
Annie Ropeik, New Hampshire Public Radio – The Aftermath of Racist Bullying in Hampton School
First Place
Lauren Chooljian, Jack Rodolico, New Hampshire Public Radio – Stranglehold: The Identity Crisis
Best Use of Video – Feature
Class 4
Second Place
Tony Schinella – Long Lost Art Of Poetry Not Lost On Concord’s Currie: Watch
Class 2
Second Place tie
Kyle Stucker, Foster’s Daily Democrat – Fueled by sobriety: Dover man running 50 marathons in 50 states
Kyle Stucker, Foster’s Daily Democrat – A family in arms
In Class 1
Second Place
Cecily Weisburgh and Samantha Hayes, Keene Sentinel – Walldogs in Keene: An unforgettable journey
First Place
Samantha Hayes, Keene Sentinel – Trusty steeds changing lives
Best Use of Video – News
Class 4
Second Place
Tony Schinella – Granite Staters Mourn Friends, Family At Homeless Persons’ Vigil
In Class 1
First Place
Dan Tuohy, New Hampshire Public Radio, Candidates Give Their Elevator Pitch
Columnist of the Year
Class 4
First Place
Keith Gentili, New Boston Beacon
Class 2
Second Place
Rob Azevedo, Manchester Inklink
First Place
Chandra Bozelko, Foster’s Daily Democrat
Class 1
Third Place
Dean Shalhoup, Nashua Telegraph
Second Place
Mark Hayward, New Hampshire Union Leader
First Place
Ray Duckler, Concord Monitor
Photographer of the year
Third Place
Mathew Plamondon, Nashua Telegraph
Second Place
Jeffrey Hastings
First Place
Geoff Forester, Concord Monitor
Excellence in Collaboration and Partnership
Third Place
Granite State News Collaborative – Granite Solutions Project
Second Place
Nashua Telegraph – PFAS
First Place
New Hampshire Public Radio – Primary Candidate Forums
Community Service
Class 4
Third Place
Judi Currie, Business NH – Climate Change and Sustainability
Second Place
Matthew J. Mowry, Judi Currie, Business NH – Nonprofit Supplement
First Place
Judi Currie, Ray Carbone, Business NH – Affordable Housing Crisis
Class 2
Third Place
Laura Aronson, Carol Robidoux, Manchester Ink Link – 2019 Municipal Election Voters Guide
Second Place
Nancy West, Garry Rayno and Paula Tracy, InDepthNH – InDepthNH.org Saves Journalism in NH
First Place
Bob Charest, InDepthNH –A Life Behind the Scenes Where the True Giving Happens
Class 1
Third Place
Roberta Baker, Laconia Daily Sun – Workers with Disabilities
Second Place
Roberta Baker, Laconia Daily Sun – Combating anti-Semitism
First Place
Alyssa Dandrea, Concord Monitor – Fighting Back
First Amendment
Third Place
Nashua Telegraph – Nashua’s Assessing Office
Second Place
Laconia Daily Sun – Behind Closed Doors
First Place
Exeter Newsletter – Judge: ACLU-NH’s suit over criminal defamation law can proceed
General Excellence – radio
First Place
New Hampshire Public Radio
General Excellence – magazine
First Place
Business NH
General Excellence – Digital Presence
Class 2
Third Place
InDepthNH
Second Place
Manchester Ink Link
First Place
The Rochester Voice
Class 1
Third Place
Nashua Telegraph
Second Place
New Hampshire Union Leader
First Place
New Hampshire Public Radio
General Excellence Non-Daily
Third Place Tie
The Exeter Newsletter and The Hampton Union
Second Place
New Hampshire Business Review
First Place
Monadnock Ledger-Transcript
General Excellence Daily Newspaper
Third Place
Conway Daily Sun
Second Place
New Hampshire Union Leader
First Place
Concord Monitor
Dennis Joos Memorial Award
Kyle Stucker, Foster’s Daily Democrat – Homelessness in the Tri-City Region
Lifetime Achievement:
Kevin Landrigan, New Hampshire Union Leader, NH1, Nashua Telegraph
Garry Rayno, InDepthNH, New Hampshire Union Leader, Foster’s Daily Democrat
David Tirrell-Wysocki, Nackey Loeb School of Communications, Associated Press
Journalist of the Year
Third Place
Hadley Barndollar, Portsmouth Herald
Second Place
Carol Robidoux, Manchester Ink Link
First Place
Bob Sanders, New Hampshire Business Review