 |
| The Spectator's Chris Potter, left, and Neal Simon display the New York State Associated Press Association Award for Best Spot New Coverage. The Spectator won first-place for coverage of November's fire on Preston Avenue in the City of Hornell |
HORNELL — The Spectator took home a first-place award from
the New York State Associated Press Association for its coverage of the Preston
Avenue fire last November in the City of Hornell.
The Spectator team won first-place in the Spot News Coverage
category among Division I newspapers.
“Excellent and complete coverage of a tragic event against
difficult circumstances for the newsroom. Excellent work,” noted the judges’
comments.
Regional editor Chris Potter, city editor Neal Simon, sales
professional Lynn White and freelance contributor Madonna Figura Simon teamed
on comprehensive coverage in the minutes after the blaze erupted on a sunny
fall afternoon, Nov. 17.
Reporters were quickly on scene as the fire spread to four
homes on Preston Avenue, eventually damaging homes on neighboring Washington
Street as well. Through a coordinated team effort, The Spectator soon posted an
early story and extensive photo gallery to eveningtribune.com as firefighters
continued to battle the blaze. White, a former photographer at The Evening
Tribune, put her newsroom skills back in action with several Facebook Live
videos to add another element to the online coverage. The videos, totaling
about an hour, collectively have 146,000 views.
The team produced multiple stories within hours of the fire,
detailing the response by Hornell firefighters and the nearby departments
called in for mutual aid, as well as the story of residents and neighbors
rushing to help one another as the blaze consumed a large chunk of the street.
Those stories were followed by dozens more in the hours,
days and weeks ahead as The Spectator continued to cover the fire investigation
and the outpouring of community support for the victims left homeless, their
possessions suddenly gone in one chaotic afternoon.
“I will never forget walking into the Hornell Community Arts
Center the next day and being struck by the mountains of clothes, toiletries
and household items donated by the Canisteo Valley, all of it being folded and
sorted by a group of quiet volunteers who would have worked through the night
if they’d been allowed to,” Potter said. “It was a privilege for our team to
document the brave work of our first responders that day, and shine a light on
the selfless way the community rallied in extraordinary circumstances.”
The annual Associated Press awards banquet in Saratoga
Springs was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We received roughly 1,300 entries this year, one of the
highest levels of participation we’ve achieved in recent years,” said George
Bodarky, President of the New York State Associated Press Association.
Potter has won a number of New York Press Association awards
in various capacities with The Spectator, including for Best Live Sports
Coverage during Wellsville boys basketball’s Section V title run and multiple
Best Special Section awards for The Spectator’s annual Great 8 publication.
Simon has been recognized by the New York News Publishers’
Association three times. He received Awards of Excellence for Distinguished
State Government Coverage in 2013-2014; Distinguished Headline Writing in 2015,
and Distinguished Business Reporting in 2016. He was recognized by Gatehouse
Media as an Editorial Writer of the Year in 2014.
Story posted with permission.
