That was the opinion of the judges of the Catholic Press Awards, which awarded The Register first-place honours in that category for bringing “the topic to life.”
It was one of 13 awards — including two first-place prizes — won by The Register’s writers, editors, photographers and design staff at an annual awards banquet held June 15 in Green Bay, Wisc.
In addition to its first-place honours, the paper earned three second-place awards and eight thirds, including being named third best national paper, at a ceremony conducted by The Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada.
The Register’s top prize for ecumenical and interfaith reporting was shared by Associate Editor Michael Swan, interfaith columnist Fr. Damian McPherson and Publisher and Editor Jim O’Leary for analysis in three separate articles about the 500th anniversary of the launch of the Reformation.
“This was a timely topic,” the judges said. “The reporter’s commitment to varied sources, the complementary sidebar and the rallying-cry editorial collectively brought the topic to life.”
The other first-place award also recognized a team effort. In the category of Best Supplement, The Register’s annual Estate Planning section was called “outstanding” for twinning important late-life planning information with “inspirational stories” that provide a “wonderful reminder about dying for the living.”
In addition to sharing a first-place prize, Swan won two-second place awards (for investigative news writing and social-justice reporting) and further demonstrated his versatility with five third-place prizes for his writing in five different categories: international news, religious liberty, pro-life issues, worker’s rights and nuclear disarmament.
The impression Swan made on the judges was summed up by their comments on his second-place award for an article that examined Canadian mining practices in Latin America, which the judges said, “made complex issues accessible” and got “to the heart of the matter.”
The Register’s other second-place prize came for its special Christmas issue, which was called “an outstanding effort reminding us what Christmas is all about.”
Lucy Barco won a third-place prize for a “clean and easy to read” layout and design of a feature called “Save our kids.” The Register also won third place for editorial writing for an editorial on nuclear disarmament that was praised for its “clarity and logic.”
The Register also earned three honourable mentions: by reporter Jean Ko Din in the category of family and community in which she recounted a trip home to the Philippines; by David Chen for layout of an article; and by Vincenzo Pietropaolo for multi-picture feature package.