Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

GMG takes top share of first-place awards in Nevada Press Association contest

The Sunday award winner 100115

Sun staff

The Sunday, the weekly news digest launched by Greenspun Media Group in February 2014, received 11 first-place awards, including for general excellence, on Friday, Oct. 2, 2015, in the Nevada Press Association annual journalism contest.

SPARKS — Greenspun Media Group received 33 first-place awards Friday from the Nevada Press Association, the most of any Nevada media organization.

Eleven of those honors went to company's newest title, The Sunday, including the general excellence award in the Urban Weekly class. GMG finished one-two in the class, as Las Vegas Weekly took second place in general excellence after receiving eight first-place awards. Overall, The Sunday received 30 awards and Las Vegas Weekly took in 27.

GMG Honored in NPA Awards

A Las Vegas Weekly cover feature from staff photographer Mikayla Whitmore on the Boulder Highway received a first-place award for best multiple photo essay on Friday, Oct. 2, 2015, in the Nevada Press Association's annual journalism contest. Launch slideshow »

Among other top honors, GMG took home two of the top digital awards, as lasvegassun.com and lasvegasweekly.com were named best website in the Urban Daily and Urban Weekly classes, respectively.

Leading the company's list of individual honorees for GMG was Elizabeth Brown, associate creative director, who was named Outstanding Visual Journalist. The honor is bestowed to only one recipient annually.

Click to enlarge photo

Elizabeth Brown

"Exceptional design work that elevates the content within," the judging report said. "Crisp and bold designs that were not too cluttered and worked perfectly with the subject matter. It was almost like the layout(s) themselves told the story, which is what a good layout should do. I liked every single entry. Great work."

GMG also received the Ad of the Year award, an all-class honor, for its "We're Here for Life's Ouch Moments" campaign for Sunrise Health. The ad was designed by Sean Rademacher, art director of advertising and marketing services.

Click to enlarge photo

Sean Rademacher

The company's other top honors included:

• Best local column, awarded to Las Vegas Sun entertainment columnist John Katsilometes.

Click to enlarge photo

John Katsilometes

• Best spot news story for the Las Vegas Sun staff's coverage of the June 2014 ambush killing of Metro Police officers Alyn Beck and Igor Soldo.

• Best entertainment writing, awarded to Las Vegas Weekly Managing Editor Erin Ryan, and best online writing, which went to Katsilometes. An ad in the publication by Rademacher won best large-space ad. Former GMG staff member Andrea Domanick took first in best critical writing.

Click to enlarge photo

Erin Ryan

• Best business news story, awarded to VEGAS INC staff writer J.D. Morris for his feature on Riviera business operators facing uncertainty as the resort prepared to close. VEGAS INC also took first place for best editorial page; best special section or campaign (with the 2014-15 Giving Guide) and best in-house promotion, for work done by Carlos Herrera.

• Best multiple photo essay, for a Las Vegas Weekly cover feature from staff photographer Mikayla Whitmore on the Boulder Highway. Las Vegas Weekly received the best feature photo award, also for an image by Whitmore.

• Best overall design, for The Sunday.

• Best sports story, for Taylor Bern's feature in The Sunday on a court case filed by college athletes accusing the NCAA of violating federal antitrust laws.

• Best editorial writing, for Executive Editor Tom Gorman's editorials in The Sunday.

• Best page designer, awarded to Las Vegas Magazine's Wesley Gatbonton. LVM also won best page one design and best illustration.

• Best photo news coverage, awarded to Steve Marcus and L.E. Baskow for the Las Vegas Sun's coverage of the shootings of Beck and Soldo. The Sun also received best illustrated photo for an image of ballerina Monika Haczkiewicz by Baskow, and best page one design, for work by LeeAnn Elias.

• The Sunday's awards also included best news photo coverage, awarded to Marcus for a cover story on militia members who sided with rancher Cliven Bundy, and best sports feature, for a story by Ray Brewer on a boxer who defeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. before he turned pro.

GMG received a total of 92 awards for its four publications, including 32 for second place awards and 27 for third place. The awards were presented during a ceremony at the Sparks Nugget.

"We couldn't be prouder of our staff, and it's rewarding to see their work recognized by our peers," said Ric Anderson, managing editor of the GMG newsroom. "We strive every day to provide our audiences with engaging, unique and relevant content, and it's icing on the cake when we receive awards for our work."

“My pride in our newsroom is even more pronounced this year, because of the success of our new weekly publication, The Sunday. For it to be recognized for its quality reaffirms our decision to publish something special for Southern Nevada,” said Brian Greenspun, CEO, editor and publisher of Greenspun Media Group.

New Media Investment Group Inc., publisher of the Las Vegas Review-Journal and seven other publications in Nevada, received 93 awards to lead all organizations.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy