(JTA) — JTA won two first-place prizes and a second place in the annual journalism contest sponsored by the American Jewish Press Association.
The Rockower Awards were presented Wednesday at the annual AJPA meeting in Philadelphia. The gathering brings together leading editors and publishers throughout North America.
Ami Eden, JTA’s CEO and editor in chief, won the Rockower for Excellence in Arts and Criticism News and Features for his piece titled “J Street, the book — expect more controversy.”
"Regardless of whether you agree with the statements and conclusions contained in this book review, you must admire the piece for its clarity, fluidity and graceful style. No words are wasted. A fine piece of writing," the judges said of the piece.
JTA Managing Editor Uriel Heilman won in the Excellence in Feature Writing category for his piece titled “Inside Empire‘s slaughterhouse: The life of a kosher chicken.”
"This piece took an already good subject and presented it with color, verve and thoughtfulness. Well done," commented the judges. Heilman also took a second place in the David Frank Award for Excellence in Personality Profiles category for his piece “In a remote New Mexico valley, a Jewish skiing legacy at Taos.”
The New York Jewish Week took three firsts and two seconds. In the Excellence in News Reporting Category, the newspaper took first place for “In Lakewood Abuse Cases, A Parallel System Of Justice” by Hella Winston and second for “Tragedy in Borough Park Puts Shomrim Under Scrutiny,” also by Winston. The Jewish Week also took first and second in The Boris Smolar Award for Excellence in Enterprise or Investigative Reporting. The first place award went for “Holocaust Claims Going Unpaid, Investigation Says” by Stewart Ain, and second award went for 21st Century Jewish Education: Series on Technology in Jewish Education by Julie Wiener. The newspaper also took first in the Excellence in Special Sections or Supplements category for “Text/Context.”
Other first-place winners include the New Jersey Jewish News, Jewish News of Greater Phoenix, Jewish Women’s Archive, Washington Jewish Week, Hadassah Magazine, Intermountain Jewish News, Jewish Standard (N.J.), Jewish Independent of Vancouver, B.C., Chicago Jewish News, Arizona Jewish Post, Na’amat Woman, Jewish Exponent of Philadelphia, Jewish Voice of Wilmington, Del., B’nai B’rith Magazine, Cleveland Jewish News, Jewish Action magazine, j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California, New Jersey Jewish News, St. Louis Jewish Light, Chicago JUF News and the Jewish National Fund.
The full list of winners can be seen here.
