The Evangelist is honored for features and editorial

Kate Blain, assistant editor of The Evangelist, won two major journalism awards last week during the annual Catholic Media Convention, held in Brooklyn:

* She won a national award from Catholic Relief Services (CRS) for an article that profiled Rosa Murillo, a woman in Troy; and

* she won a third prize in the category of "individual excellence" for a writer/editor, a category that combines entries from Catholic newspapers, magazines, newsletters and Spanish-language publications throughout North America.

In addition, The Evangelist won three other prizes in competition with diocesan newspapers from the U.S. and Canada.

Troy profile

CRS, the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States, provides assistance to people in need around the world. Ms. Blain's first-place prize is a trip to visit one of CRS' programs in Latin America to meet the people the agency serves.

She was one of four winners of CRS' 2007 Egan Award for Journalistic Excellence. The competition honors the work of journalists who have written about humanitarian and social justice issues for Catholic publications in the U.S.

In her article, "Rosa is not who you think she is," Ms. Blain told the story of an 89-year-old Colombian woman, living in Troy, who is often mistaken for a homeless person because she roams the streets in search of empty cans. With the money raised from redeeming the cans, Rosa supports various humanitarian missions worldwide.

Other prizes

In addition to that prize, Ms. Blain was named one of the top three writers/editors in North America, bested only by Michael Swan of the Catholic Register in Toronto and Elizabeth Martin Solsburg from Faith Magazine in Lansing, Mich.

One of the judges said that Ms. Blain has "a gift for inspirational story-telling." Her profiles are "never saccharine and always prompted me to think, 'I wish that had been in my paper.'"

Other staff members of The Evangelist won honorable mentions during the convention:

* James Breig, editor, was cited for a Jan. 12, 2006, editorial, "The 12 Epistles," about coal miners who wrote to their loved ones before they died;

* Patricia Pasternak, staff writer, was honored for "Priests left high and wet when flood arrived," a feature story that ran July 13, 2006, about two priests caught in flooding; and

* the entire staff plus Dave Oxford, freelance photographer, were recognized for the newspaper's annual teen issue. It appeared last November.

(Entries for the Egan Awards were judged by a panel of judges from the secular media, including Andrea Koppel, congressional correspondent for CNN; John Donnelly from The Boston Globe; June Thomas, editor for Slate.com; Greg Allen, southeast correspondent for NPR; and David Gibson, author of "The Rule of Benedict." The CRS awards are named for Eileen Egan, CRS' first professional staff layperson, who devoted four decades of her life to assisting refugees and the poor in Europe, Asia and Latin America. To read the winners' work, to www.crs.org. The judges for the newspaper awards included journalists from religious publications and such secular newspapers as the Statesman Journal in Salem, Oregon; the Houston Chronicle; the Orlando Sentinel; and the Denver Post. Among the eight diocesan newspapers in New York State, The Evangelist's four awards were bested only by the five received by the Courier Journal in Rochester. To read The Evangelist's prize-winning work, go to www.evangelist.org.)

BOOKS AND ARTICLE

Albany Diocese scores in media competition

Staff members of The Evangelist were not the only people from the Albany Diocese who were honored during last week's Catholic Media Convention:

* Rev. Richard Fragomeni, a priest of the Diocese, took home three third-place awards in the books category for "At the Name of Jesus: The Way, the Truth, the Life," which he co-wrote with Michael O'Neill McGrath; it was cited in the "popular presentation of the Catholic faith" category, in the "spirituality" category, and in the "best design and production" category;

* Father Fragomeni also won a third prize in the category of educational books for "Blest Are We: Faith & Word Edition";

* Janet Gianopoulos, who is on the staff of Siena College in Loudonville, won a third prize for best feature article in a religious order magazine for "When I Was in Prison," which appeared in The Anthonian;

* Mary DeTurris Poust of St. Thomas parish in Delmar won a second prize for her column on family life, which appears in Catholic New York; and

* Rev. Richard Vosko, another priest of the Diocese, won a first prize in the liturgy book category for "God's House is Our House: Re-Imagining the Environment of Worship."

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