SDUN Staff Reports
San Diego Uptown News walked away with the top award, first place for General Excellence, at this year’s IFPA (Independent Free Papers of America) national conference, held in Nashville, Tenn.
IFPA is a national association of more than 300 free community newspapers from across the United States and Canada. The awards are selected by the association’s member publishers.
“What is especially gratifying is to have won this in only our second year of publishing,” SDUN Publisher David Mannis said. “It is an honor to have been chosen by my fellow publishers.”
Closer to home, San Diego Uptown News received 13 awards at the San Diego Press Club’s 37th annual Excellence in Journalism Awards dinner on Oct. 19, including six first-place finishes in the non-daily newspaper category.
“We are both thrilled and humbled to have our work recognized so extensively by the San Diego Press Club after only 16 months in print,” Mannis said. “Moving forward, we are committed to upholding the same high standards our readers have come to rely upon in both San Diego Uptown News, and in our new sister publication, Gay San Diego.”
SDUN contributor Christy Scannell, who also served as the paper’s senior editor, took home a first-place award in the Political/Government category for her story on Balboa Park’s aging infrastructure, “Park in Peril,” and another first-place award for her engaging array of headlines. Scannell also received second-place awards for her travel piece “Swaying in the Palms,” her multicultural piece, “Agency for Change,” about La Cuna foster family agency, and her education piece, “Food Fight.”
Ron James, SDUN’s retired editor-in-chief, garnered first-place awards in the Business and Financial category for his story “Uptown in Transition,” and in the Arts and Entertainment Reporting category for his story “Luminous Views.” James received third-place recognition in the Food category for his story “The Word on the Bird,” a Thanksgiving feature.
Graphic designer Ken Pagano took top honors in the category of Feature Layout Design for his visual artistry accompanying the story “The Word on the Bird,” and second-place awards in Feature Layout Design for “A Week to Eat” and in Front Page Design for the story “Chelsea’s Law.”
Illustrator Court Jones won a first-place award in Drawing or Illustration for his caricature of recalcitrant restaurateur “George Pernicano,” and Maria Desiderata Montana took second-place honors for her food story “From Nature to Nurture,” a review of Sea Rocket Bistro.
The San Diego Press Club received more than 900 entries for consideration this year.
Established in 1973, the organization has close to 400 members, making it one of the largest clubs in the country for media professionals. The San Diego Press Club offers year-round opportunities for networking and professional growth.
