HONORS
Gay City News Earns 12 NY Press Association Awards
Newspaper contributes to impressive showing by Schneps Media at annual event
BY MATT TRACY
Gay City News scooped
up a dozen awards at
the New York Press Association’s
Better Newspaper
Contest for 2020, capping off
a strong performance by Schneps
Media, the newspaper’s parent
company, which hauled in a total
of 49 awards.
Gay City News received three
fi rst-place awards, four second-place
awards, three third-place awards,
and two honorable mentions over
the course of a two-day virtual
awards ceremony during which the
newspaper was praised for its work
across a range of areas. The founding
editor of Gay City News, Paul
Schindler, who stepped down as
editor-in-chief at the end of last year,
was recognized seven times.
The newspaper’s fi rst-place honors
included Andy Humm’s piece
remembering the life of screenwriter,
playwright, author, and activist
Larry Kramer, who died in May of
last year at the age of 84. That story
won fi rst place for News Story.
Duncan Osborne and Matt Tracy
landed a fi rst place award for Coverage
of Crime, Police, and Courts
for two stories — Tracy’s article
examining the circumstances surrounding
the death of a transgender
woman in Newark, New Jersey,
and Osborne’s story revealing
that Mayor Bill de Blasio approved
aggressive police tactics during
the protests that emerged in the
city following the police killing of
George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Schindler and Amanda Tarley
also won fi rst place honors for
the special section dedicated to
the newspaper’s annual Impact
Awards event.
Schindler and Arthur S. Leonard
earned a second place spot in
the competition for the Thomas
Butson Award for In-Depth Reporting
thanks to their coverage of the
Supreme Court’s landmark ruling
in June of last year clarifying that
LGBTQ workers are covered under
Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights
Act. Schindler wrote a timely and
informative story immediately after
This Pride cover was one of Gay City News’ award-winning submissions.
the ruling and Leonard penned
a comprehensive overview of the
ruling and the legal battles ahead
in the fi ght for queer rights.
Schindler and photographer
Donna Aceto took home second
place honors in the Best Front
Page contest for two Pride covers
— the June 25 cover leading into
Pride weekend and the cover for
the subsequent issue on July 16.
Relatedly, Schindler, Tracy, and
Aceto also won third place honors
for Special Holiday Edition for the
June 25 Pride issue.
Another second place award went
to Nicholas Boston, David Kennerley,
Chris Byrne and Ryan Persadie
in the Coverage of Arts category.
Their contributions included Boston’s
piece about a Metropolitan
Museum of Art gallery focused on
Indigenous communities, Kennerley’s
coverage of virtual theater during
the pandemic, and Persadie’s
profi les of Caribbean drag artists.
Tracy received a second place
award in the Sports Feature category
for coverage of Knicks’ Pride
night and Knicks player Reggie
Bullock, who became an LGBTQ
advocate after his transgender sister
was murdered.
The newspaper’s third place
awards included Schindler’s editorials
covering the gay blood ban,
the late John Lewis, and Stonewall
House, an LGBTQ-inclusive housing
development for seniors in Fort
Greene, Brooklyn.
Notably, Gay City News scored
third place in the competition for
the Past Presidents’ Award for General
Excellence, underscoring the
top-notch work produced by everyone
on the team. In comments explaining
the award, judges praised
the paper’s wide-ranging work.
“This newspaper knows its audience
and is thorough in covering a
broad array of issues,” jodges wrote.
In addition to the awards earned
by Gay City News, other newspapers
within Schneps Media — which consists
of more than 70 publications
across New York City, Long Island,
Westchester County, and Philadelphia
— also had strong showings at
the Better Newspaper Contest.
Dan’s Papers earned 14 honors,
including fi rst place fi nishes for
Best Large Space Ad, Best House
Ad, and Best Real Estate Home
Section. Among other highlights,
QNS.com — which includes the
Queens Courier, TimesLedger,
and Ridgewood Times newspapres
— won fi rst Place for Best News
Website and the Brooklyn Paper
fi nished in fi rst Place in the News
Series competition for coverage of
the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact
on hospitals, businesses, and communities
in the borough.
“I am bursting with pride at the
huge recognition of our talented
team, both writers and artists,
both digitally and in print,” Victoria
Schneps, president of Schneps Media,
said in a written statement.
“We are so proud of our team
across all divisions of the entire
company,” Joshua Schneps, CEO
of Schneps Media, said in a written
statement. “These recognitions
prove what we already know and
appreciate: We have the best team
in the business!”
Below is a list of Gay City News’
awards at the 2020 Better Newspaper
Contest.
First place
News Story, Division 5 (Andy
Humm)
Coverage of Crime/Police/Courts,
Division 2 (Matt Tracy and Duncan
Osborne)
Special Sections, Glossy Niche,
Division 3 (Paul Schindler and
Amanda Tarley)
Second place
Thomas Butson Award for In-
Depth Reporting, Division 4 (Paul
Schindler and Arthur S. Leonard)
Sports Feature, Division 3 (Matt
Tracy)
Best Front Page, Division 3 (Paul
Schindler and Donna Aceto)
Coverage of Arts (Nicholas Boston,
David Kennerley, Chris Byrne
and Ryan Persadie)
Third place
Editorials, Division 4 (Paul Schindler)
Past Presidents’ Award for Excellence,
Division 2 (Gay City News)
Special Holiday Edition (Paul
Schindler, Matt Tracy and Donna
Aceto)
Honorable mentions
Sharon R. Fulmer Award for Community
Leadership (Paul Schindler
and Matt Tracy)
Coverage of Religion (Andy
Humm, Matt Tracy, Donna Aceto,
Art Leonard and Paul Schindler)
April 22 - May 5,24 2021 | GayCityNews.com
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