Daily Herald given Community Service Award, other staff honors, by Inland Press Association

The Daily Herald was awarded the Inland Press Association's Community Leadership Award for large-circulation newspapers Tuesday, Oct. 27, marking the eighth time in the past 12 years the paper has received that recognition.

The award was presented to Editor John Lampinen at the association's annual meeting at the J.W. Marriott Chicago. Inland, headquartered in Des Plaines, represents newspapers from throughout North America.

"We're gratified by this recognition of our staff's continuing dedication to public service," Lampinen said.

It was one of eight awards the Daily Herald received.

Among the others was a first-place award in sports picture use for coverage of last spring's championship run of the Chicago Blackhawks and an honorable mention in news picture use.

In addition, several photographers were honored: Brian Hill with a second-place award in feature photography; John Starks with honorable mentions in portrait photography and news photography; Steve Lundy with an honorable mention in news photography; and Rick West with an honorable mention in feature photography.

The Community Leadership Award went to the paper for its series "Generations at Risk: Our Promise to Our Kids," spearheaded by staff writer Melissa Silverberg and Data Journalism Editor Tim Broderick.

The judges said the initiative was an example of "an outstanding data project that was backed by tremendous reporting and editing."

They added: "The lessons learned can be prescriptive for many other cities as America continues to search for ways to end the cycle of failure in many urban schools. A big part of leadership is going beyond identifying problems. The Herald offered solutions and applauded schools that are doing the right thing."

Some of he award-winning photos from our photographers are featured on the rest of this page.