The Harvard Press won first place in a three-way final competition for best governmental reporting among small weeklies at the New England Newspaper and Press Association convention in Boston Saturday night.
The award is a first for the 12-year-old paper and recognizes the work of reporters Marty Green and Joan Eliyesil and editor John Osborn for the dozens of articles they wrote about the $53 million project to replace Hildreth Elementary School in the months leading up to its approval at Harvard’s 2018 Annual Town Meeting.
The Press beat out two other finalists with weekly circulations less than 6,000: The Tri-Town Transcript of Boxford, Massachusetts, and the Hampton Union of Hampton, New Hampshire, both owned by Gatehouse Media. The first place award was one of 75 presented to professionals and newspapers throughout the region for outstanding reporting on a variety of topics, columns, editorials, design, photos, videos, slideshows, mobile apps, and the use of social media. Contestants in the New England Better Newspaper Competition ranged from regional dailies such as the Worcester Telegram & Gazette and Portland (Maine) Press Herald to small weeklies like the Mount Desert Islander (Maine), The Stowe Reporter (Vermont), and the Harvard Press.
From left: Joan Eliyesil, John Osborn, and Marty Green with their first-place award for government reporting at the New England Newspaper and Press Association convention Saturday, Feb. 16. (Courtesy photo)
