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We love awards.
They certainly aren’t the main reason we make magazines, but the recognition of work well done is always welcome. That said, the following public service announcement is not-so-humbly brought to you by one braggadocious editor.
In the annual contest of The National Association of Press Women, Delaware Today cleaned up.
Second place awards went to managing editor Drew Ostroski for headline writing and to former special projects editor Kaytie Dowling for her health and fitness reporting. Kaytie also won a first place award for editing Delaware Bride.
Kudos as well to contributor Susan Oates for first place in writing for special sections. You can read her work in the “Wilmington: In the Middle of It All” supplement that ran in October. The announcement came not long after we’d learned that the Wilmington piece won a bronze award from the City Regional Magazine Association for community service.
Last and certainly not least, senior editor Maria Hess took two first place awards, one for news reporting (“Gorilla Warfare,” January 2007) and one for profile writing for “The Secret Life of Color” about artist Ed Loper in February 2007. (I’d not-so-discreetly point out that profile writing is the most competitive category in the contest.)
So what does it all mean for you?
It means that media professionals from across the country find that your magazine does top-notch work, whether that means presenting a beautiful, entertaining, informative and generally excellent publication such as Delaware Bride, exploring all sides of an important issue such as workers compensation reform, or going deep with an iconic personality like Loper. It takes a high degree of trust in the reporter before the subject of a story will speak candidly about an issue such as race. Maria won that trust to show you how important figures such as Loper think in the hope that there is a lesson for us all.
And that’s really why we make Delaware Today. Yes, having impartial parties recognize the magazine as something of quality is a wonderful honor. But the greater honor, our privilege, is to serve you well. Who’s best at what they do? Why do local opinion leaders think what they think? How will we deal with important issues? Is that new restaurant worth spending your hard-earned money at?
We hope always that you’ll turn to us for your answers, because as nice as awards are, the most important thing to us is maintaining your trust. I promise we’ll continue to work hard at doing so.
Mark’s Day Book
- Honestly, the life of an editor is not one of endless lunches, but the week of July 7-11 was an exception: marketing maven Jayla Boire on Tuesday to discuss editorial ideas, Republican National Committeewoman Priscilla Rakestraw on Wednesday just to catch up, Carol Kipp on Thursday to woo her writing skills and Glam Girl JoJami Tyler on Friday to thank her for coordinating the makeovers in this month’s issue. My bathroom scale thanks each of you.
- Add builder Steve Anderson to that mix. DT met him at C.W. Harborside on one stellar afternoon. He’s an even nicer guy than you might have gathered from the brief profile of him that appeared in the July issue. The man clearly enjoys his work.
- Doing Dace Blaskovitz’s Saturday morning show “Money and Politics in Delaware” on WILM with guests Bill Kane and regular DT contributor Bob Yearick was great fun. The main question: How much does the media influence an election? The short answer: The media influences absolutely everything.
- What can I say about the big Best of Delaware Party at Dover Downs? You had to be there. Nothing else compares.