NH Patch, News Partners Win New Hampshire Press Association Awards

MANCHESTER, NH — Patch.com in New Hampshire won four press association awards for government, political, and spot news reporting, while news partners affiliated with the site also earned many honors.

Tony Schinella, a senior local editor with Patch, won four awards for stories published in 2023 as Class II Division entries. The Class II Division is for freelancers or media outlets with less than four employees.

In the Political Reporting category, Schinella took first place for Concord NH Patch’s 2023 municipal election coverage package which included five stories — the announcement that the city’s longest-serving mayor was stepping down, a story about non-compliant campaign signs, a story about all the money being raised and spent by city candidates for what are essentially volunteer positions, a data piece analyzing incomes, home values, and political affiliations of the outgoing city and school officials as well as the candidates, and a results story. In the entry, it was also noted that Schinella co-hosted debates between candidates in 12 of the 13 competitive city and school races in an eight-week campaign sprint — an unprecedented accomplishment for one journalist and two cable access employees. Patch also offered free profiles to candidates, with dozens of links included in the 2023 campaign stories.

The third-place entry concerned a gun threat incident at the Concord Heights Burger King, which was published not long after the incident and included video and updates as police and state troopers searched for the suspect.

In Government Reporting, Schinella also earned a third-place award for the story about the city’s longest-serving mayor in Concord deciding not to run for reelection.

New Hampshire Patch news partners and freelancers also won several awards.

Jeffrey Hastings, who covers breaking news in the southern part of the state as a freelancer for Patch, won seven awards for General News and Spot News photography.

A number of freelancers at InDepthNH also won awards, including Paula Tracy, Damien Fisher, columnist Michael Davidow, Beverly Stoddard, another columnist, and Ani Freedman, who won the Rookie of the Year award. Some of Freedman’s impressive coverage included PFAS issues in Merrimack and surrounding communities.

Fisher also won awards with NH Journal — including a piece on RFK Jr. and his reporting on disgraced former Strafford County Sheriff Mark Brave involved with theft charges, accused of using money to fund activities with a mistress and trips, and a combined award with Michael Graham, publisher of the site, for their coverage of the riot and siege of a Merrimack defense contractor owned by an Israeli company as part of Palestinian protests. Graham also won for Best Video for his Dinner Table Economics series.

New Hampshire Bulletin, another news partner, won several awards for stories published, including second and third-place finishes for Journalist of the Year for Annmarie Timmins and Ethan Dewitt.

Carole Soule of Miles Smith Farm in Loudon, who writes a weekly column published on the Concord NH Patch site, won a third-place award for a feature photo.
All won entries in the Class II Division.

The full list of winners in the state will be listed here when published.