Washington Jewish Week had a strong showing at the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association’s annual editorial and design awards ceremony on May 3 in Annapolis, winning 24 awards.
The MDDC Press Association’s annual contest, which this year featured more than 1,550 entries in 86 categories, recognizes excellence in print and online journalism across the region. The organization represents more than 100 member news media organizations.
Washington Jewish Week took home two Best of Show awards, 12 first-place awards and 10 second-place awards. A highlight of the event was Washington Jewish Week being named “News Organization of the Year” in its division.
“It was an exciting afternoon with impressive results for all the hard work done by our staff in 2023,” Mid-Atlantic Media CEO and Publisher Craig Burke said. “There are a lot of outstanding news organizations in our region, and being recognized by the MDDC Press Association in so many different news and design categories speaks volumes about the quality of the content that we produce for our readers. I’m very proud of our talented team of editors, writers and designers, as well as our dedicated sales and administrative staff, for the work they do each and every day.”
Frank Wagner, WJW’s art director, won a Best of Show award for best retail ad design, while WJW also won a Best of Show award for best headline.
In addition, Wagner won first place for his design of the WJW’s Rosh Hashanah special section, first place for cover design, second place for feature design and second place for his work on a WJW digital edition promo ad.
WJW swept the editorial category in its division, winning first place for its editorial titled “Antisemitism in America” and second place for its editorial “The Raw Sewage of Hamas Hate.” It also took first and second place in the local column critical thinking category.
WJW also swept the feature story: profile category in its division, with editor Aaron Troodler taking first place for his piece titled “CNN’s Jake Tapper: Anchor, Author and Proud Jew.”
Troodler also won second place in the breaking news category with “‘A Bright Warm Light’: Remembering Omer Balva” and took second place in the general news story category with “Historic Pro-Israel Rally in DC Draws Massive Crowd,” which he wrote with WJW staff writer Braden Hamelin.
A number of Hamelin’s articles received recognition from the judges, including his first-place win in the education reporting category with his story titled “How Jewish Day Schools Are Responding to Israel Attacks.”
Hamelin also grabbed three second-place finishes: “Inseparable Twins: The Holocaust Survival Story of a Local Woman and Her Brother” in the feature story: non-profile category; “One of DC’s Oldest Torah Scrolls Returns Home” in the religion reporting category; and “Amid Challenges, Israeli Basketball Team Plays with a Sense of Purpose” in the sports feature story category.
WJW staff writer Jillian Diamond won first place in the growth and land use reporting category with “‘Not in My Neighborhood’ A Montgomery County Project Maps the Story of Antisemitic, Racist Housing Laws.”
WJW also won first place in the arts and entertainment reporting category with “Olney Theatre Center’s ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ Breaks with Tradition, Gently” written by Lisa Traiger.