Work by members of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh has been recognized by the Society for Features Journalism in its 2023 Excellence-in-Features contest.
In Division 1 (circulation up to 90,000), Union Progress interim editor Bob Batz Jr. won first place in the short feature category with his Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story “Aliquippa wants to get the band back together.”
Judges said that it’s hard to fault Batz’s “tale of a small town junior/senior high school struggling to have a band to play at football games — and largely succeeding. It’s funny and sweet and heartwarming, full of pizza, pride and pandemic price inflation. And then there’s the ‘Blues Brothers’ inflected lede — ‘Aliquippa wants to get the band back together.’ Bravo.”
Sean Hamill earned a first-place showing in Division 1’s sports feature category with his Post-Gazette series “A secret life in the rackets.” Judges called the piece, about Steelers founder Art Rooney Sr. building his wealth on racket operations, a “thorough and complete examination of the unknown tales behind one of Pittsburgh’s most famous sports leaders. Well reported and presented with elegant digital touches.”
Jen Kundrach’s design work on the PG’s Food & Flavor section won third place in the best special project category.
The Society for Features Journalism’s annual contest, celebrating excellence in storytelling, received more than 900 entries this year.
The PUP is the publication of the striking workers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
