Daily Herald wins general excellence, best website

The Daily Herald won the General Excellence award and first place for best website Thursday night at the Northern Illinois Newspaper Association's 2020 annual awards gathering.

The Daily Herald won 52 awards altogether, including 21 for first place in a variety of categories.

Judges said "The Daily Herald team gets it. The website is organized well and updated regularly. This is a top-notch site."

Travis Siebrass, the assistant managing editor overseeing dailyherald.com, said: "Our staff is committed to telling stories that matter to the suburbs. We work to make sure our website is a direct reflection of that."

Burt Constable, Elena Ferrarin, Rick West and Marie Wilson each earned three first-place awards. Constable and Ferrarin each won five awards in all.

West won first place for video and feature photography on the same assignment on a 75th wedding anniversary story. "Keep looking and you notice the little things that make this photo great," the judges said.

"We're proud of our hardworking staff and its ongoing commitment to serve our readers," Editor John Lampinen said. "The recognition is appreciated. But what's really important is the good work on behalf of the community that our journalists strive to provide each day."

First place

• General Excellence: Daily Herald Staff

• Website: Daily Herald Staff

• Design: Daily Herald Staff

• Public Affairs Reporting: Marie Wilson and Elena Ferrarin

• Coverage of Social Issues: Madhu Krishnamurthy

• In-depth News Story: Burt Constable

• Sports Columnist: Barry Rozner

• Video: Rick West

• Spot News Story: Eric Peterson and Elena Ferrarin

• Headline Writing: Melynda Findlay

• General Feature: Burt Constable

• Personality Profile: Robert Feder and Jim O'Donnell

• Business/Financial Coverage: Marie Wilson and Elena Ferrarin

• Technology/Medical Coverage: Marie Wilson

• Columnist: Burt Constable

• Editorial: Jim Slusher

• Spot News Photo: Rick West

• Feature Photo: Rick West

• Sports Photo: Mark Welsh

• Sports Story: John Dietz

• Online Photo Gallery: John Starks

• News Series: Jake Griffin and Lauren Rohr

Second Place

• Historical Feature: Burt Constable

• Headline Writing: Don Friske

• General Feature: Barbara Vitello

• Personality Profile: Burt Constable

• Business/Financial Coverage: Daily Herald Staff

• Technology/Medical Coverage: Daily Herald Staff

• Editorial: Pete Nenni

• Spot News Photo: Mark Welsh

• Sports Photo: Brian Hill

• Sports Story: Scot Gregor

• Online Photo Gallery: Daily Herald Staff

• COVID-19 Coverage: Daily Herald Staff

• Spanish Coverage of Latino Community: Marni Harvey, Reflejos

Third Place

• Watchdog Reporting: Jake Griffin

• Public Affairs Reporting: Robert Sanchez

• Coverage of Social Issues: Elena Ferrarin

• Education Reporting: Madhu Krishnamurthy

• Use of Humor: Jim Baumann

• Video: Rick West

• Headline Writing: Sean Stangland

• General Feature: Madhu Krishnamurthy

• Personality Profile: Elena Ferrarin

• Business/Financial Coverage: Eric Peterson and Bob Susnjara

• Technology/Medical Coverage: Daily Herald Staff

• Columnist: Jim Slusher

• Editorial: John Lampinen

• Spot News Photo: Joe Lewnard

• Sports Story: Patricia Babcock McGraw

• Online Photo Gallery: Jeff Knox

• News Series: Jake Griffin