Public Employee Press


DC 37 News
Metro NY journalism contest
DC 37 wins nine awards


DC 37 garnered nine awards in this year's Metro New York Labor Communications Council journalism contest - a tribute to the union's focus on enhancing how it communicates to and about the members.

The contest's top honor, the Mary Heaton Vorse Award, went to Public Employee Press Sr. Associate Editor Gregory N. Heires for his story "Homeless" about a union member living in a homeless shelter despite having a job. Judges said his "compelling story puts a human face on union concerns, using this increasingly typical story to highlight
economic inequality and the urgent need for decent wages and contracts."

A First Award for General Excellence in its class went to DC 37's website www.dc37.net, edited by Assistant Director Molly Charboneau. Judges praised its lively content, ease of navigation and the breadth of news and resources it provides for members. Charboneau also won a Third Award for best e-newsletter for "Housing Fair July 30 and union news."

PEP received a Third Award for General Excellence in its class, and PEP editors won several writing awards.

Managing Editor Mike Lee's story, "Scalia's death scrambles Friedrichs and other anti-union cases - Labor's message: keep on pushing," received a Second Award for best news writing. "Dinosaurs among us" by Associate Editor Diane Williams won a Third Award for best feature. "Your union dues - lies and truth" by Heires received a Third Award for best op/ed column.

In a new category, Best Writing by a Millennial-Aged Communicator, Editorial Assistant Joseph Lopez won a Third Award for "Lifeguards save elderly man." The Third Award for best video went to "The Newtown Creek" by Photographer Clarence Elie-Rivera and Lopez.

Metro presented the journalism awards at its May 17 annual convention following a panel of women authors, among them former PEP Associate Editor Jane LaTour, discussing "Workers in the Trump Era: Women's Voices on the Resistance."

Metro also honored Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! as Communicator of the Year for her fearless independent journalism.

"Giving voice to the resistance is critical," Goodman said in her acceptance speech. "We need media that covers power that is not for power."

Goodman was introduced by her frequent co-host and former Daily News columnist Juan Gonzalez, a past recipient of the award who covered many important DC 37 stories during his career - from the wasteful CityTime contract to corruption at the Queens Public Library.

For more on the convention, go to www.metrolabornyc.org.