Star Wins National Awards
The East Hampton Star shone brightly in this year's Suburban Newspapers of America competition, winning top awards for its coverage of the environment, business, education, arts, and this summer's T.W.A. disaster, among other honors.
The Star took home nine awards in all in the national contest, including first-place honors for breaking news, environmental reporting, and best editorial pages. The awards also included two second-place honors, three third-place awards, and an honorable mention.
A total of 904 publishers of weekly newspapers throughout North America competed in this year's contest. The Star is judged against weeklies in the 10,000-to-20,000 circulation range.
T.W.A. Coverage
Judges were particularly impressed with The Star's team coverage of the T.W.A. Flight 800 crash. A four-page special section bannered by Russell Drumm's first-person account of the Coast Guard rescue effort, with striking photographs taken the night the plane went down, won first place in the breaking-news category.
The section also won a second-place award in the category of in-depth reporting. And Mr. Drumm's cover photo of an exhausted Coast Guardsman earned a third prize for best news photo.
The Star's ongoing coverage of beach-erosion issues was rewarded with a blue ribbon for best environmental reporting. A series of articles by Mr. Drumm and Michelle Napoli looked at erosion from environmental, legal, and long-range planning perspectives.
The paper won the S.N.A.'s first prize for environmental reporting last year as well.
Tops In Editorial
For the seventh time in the last 12 years, The Star's editorial pages were judged tops in the field. The section contains a wide range of features, including letters to the editor, editorials, the "Guestwords"and"Relay" columns, and the paper's regular columnists, Jack Graves, Helen S. Rattray, and Val Schaffner.
"It gives me tremendous satisfaction to have won so many first prizes for our editorial pages," said Mrs. Rattray, The Star's editor and president. "We're being recognized for providing an excellent community forum for the expression of opinions."
The paper was ranked second this year for its educational coverage and business-and-economic reporting, based on the strengths of three consecutive issues.
Arts And Photography
The Star's arts coverage was also recognized, winning third place for best entertainment/lifestyle section. The arts section has won consistently in this category.
Photography also got a nod. An honorable mention was awarded for sports photojournalism. Shots by Edwin Gifford of rugby, roller hockey, and baseball in action were submitted.
The East Hampton and Southampton Independents, which now compete in the same circulation category as the Star, also made a showing, taking home a number of photography awards among other honors. Jerry Della Femina's weekly feature "Jerry's Ink" took first prize for best column writing.