2 1st Places, 2 2nd Places, And A Third: New Hampshire Press Association Award Update

MANCHESTER, NH — Two first-place awards, two second-place awards, and one third-place award.

That was the outcome at the New Hampshire Press Association awards banquet at the Institute of Politics at St. Anselm College in Manchester on Thursday night… and I’ll take ‘em.

As noted in the annual letter to readers (“Patch In NH Turns 15; Editor Wins 5 More New Hampshire Press Association Awards; Updates And Info”), a couple of months ago, I was pleased to find out I would get five this year for work performed in 2025.

The first-place winners were Crime and Courts (Concord police officer innocent of 2023 assault charges: Concord Police Officer, Accused Of Assault, Takes The Stand In His Own Defense; Witness Confuses Race Of Concord Officer At Sal’s Pizza Arrest Scene; First Trial Of Concord Cop Accused Of Assaulting Suspects Underway; Concord Police Officer Found Innocent In April 2023 Assault Case) and Sports Photo (Sawyer flips opponent).

For Sports Photo, the judge said, “Wow, everything a great sports photo needs: Movement, the reaction of the crowd, and a teammate on his phone looking up just in time.”

One of the great experiences of going to your child’s sporting events is taking pictures and videos. And sometimes, you get some really crazy shots like that one. Sawyer McCready of the Concord High School Crimson Tide wrestling team, Class of 2025, was always good for at least one flip during his bouts.

In the Crime-Court Reporting, the judge said, “A great example of continued coverage of an ongoing story that follows it to the end.”

Breaking News (Water Street Bridge homeless camp shooting: Shooting Reported At Homeless Camp Under Water Street Bridge; 1 Detained, 2 At-Large) earned a second place, as did the Feature Story (about NH Cold Case playing cards: Second Deck Of New Hampshire Cold Case Playing Cards Hopes To Aid In Solving Crimes). Government Reporting came in third (Accused arsonist named to ZBA alternate seat: Accused Arsonist Nominated By Concord City Manager To An Alternate Seat On The ZBA; Some Concord City Councilors Confirm Not Knowing About Criminal History Of ZBA Appointee).

The full list of award winners will be posted on the press association website soon.

As always, thank you for reading Patch in New Hampshire. And stay tuned for more award-winning journalism.

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