Farmington High basketball coach Duane Witter holds the net after the River Hawks cut down the nets after a win over Avon in the final regular season game in the gym in February 2024. The story won a second place award in the Excellence in Journalism competition.
The Collinsville Press was recognized by the Connecticut chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists with three awards in the 2024 Excellence in Journalism competition.
Editor and website founder Gerry deSimas, Jr., was recognized with a first-place award for sports features and a second-place award and third place award for sports news in the hyperlocal division, which features websites that focus on local coverage in specific towns.
He won a first place award in sports feature in Division C, which consists primarily of hyperlocal websites and small publications that focus on local coverage in specific towns, for his story on the passing of Canton’s Hall of Fame field hockey coach Nancy Grace in October.
Hall of Fame coach Nancy Grace, left, Cookie Bromage and Terri Ziemnicki at the 2018 Gold Key induction banquet. Grace passed away in October 2024.
He won a second place award in sports news in Division C for his story on the final regular season basketball game at Farmington High. A few weeks later, the gym was torn down as part of renovations on campus as the town built a new high school.
He received a third place award for sports news in Division B, which includes mid-size publications around the state, for his story about the Ansonia football team beating Woodland with under a second to play to earn a spot in the Class S championship game.
Ansonia’s Crishon Fogle (0) gets stopped by a pair of Woodland Regional defenders in the Class S semifinal in Ansonia.
It’s the tenth time in the last 13 years that the Collinsville Press has been honored by SPJ with an award.
The 2024 Excellence in Journalism contest received hundreds of entries.
The Stephen A. Collins Public Service Award, for a story or a series of stories that have a significant impact in the public interest, went to Hearst Media Connecticut for their story on issues with disability pensions by reporters Jacqueline Rabe Thomas and Taylor Johnston.
The judges said, “This deeply reported story brought attention to an expensive loophole in the worker’s comp system and resulted in marked changes at the state level that helped correct a long-time, systemic problem. While the work that goes into reporting like this isn’t glamorous, it’s important. But, importantly, the stories in this series brought together narrative, data and fact in a highly-digestible way, making this more accessible for the public — an important and key element that all journalism should strive for.”
The Connecticut Mirror received the Theodore Driscoll Award for investigative reporting for the story by Andrew Brown and Dave Altimari on Connecticut canceling just one audit of self-reported Medicaid overpayments.
The judges said, “A dogged investigation by CT Mirror reporters Andrew Brown and Dave Altimari revealed that a politically connected eye doctor was the only medical provider to have a Medicaid audit canceled after repaying overpayments.
“Through persistent FOI requests and careful analysis, Brown and Altimari exposed this irregularity, prompting federal scrutiny and leading to criminal charges. Their crisp pacing and accessible storytelling brought clarity to a complex topic, transforming dense policy reporting into compelling public service journalism,” the judges said.
The First Amendment Award, a single story or a series that increases the public understanding of the role of the press in a free society, went to the Connecticut Mirror. Reporters Ginny Mont and Andrew Brown reported on the balancing act between inpatient beds and safety concerns.
The judges said, “Excellent use of public records and human sources to expose abuses in a system intended to protect vulnerable children
2024 Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists contest winners
