PUBLISHER Sean Burke
EDITOR Lisa Strattan
ONLINE www.tauntongazette.com
ABOUT THE ENTRY The coverage of local politics in the Taunton Daily Gazette was outstanding, and the judges were extremely impressed with the wide variety of new projects undertaken by the small staff. The strong commitment to teamwork is evident throughout the newspaper, and the focus on community involvement through print features, social media and initiatives such as the “Best and Brightest” competition is commendable. This is a first-class effort by a motivated and talented staff.
Q&A WITH THE TAUNTON DAILY GAZETTE
What story or series were you most proud of in 2011? What gave it impact?
On the face of it, this story may seem petty, small potatoes. But in the context of the 2011 city election, this story was a big deal to downtown business owners and political observers throughout the city. The Gazette engaged in a "stake-out" investigation, looking into allegations that a sitting city councilor and mayoral candidate was breaking a city ordinance by parking his ice cream parlor's roving frozen lemonade carts outside the newly opened Taunton District Courthouse. Ordinance states the carts had to move once every half hour, and at least a couple hundred feet. The carts owned by Tom Hoye (then aspiring to be mayor) parked outside the courthouse in the middle of summer, and did not move, all day, tapping all the courthouse's emerging thirsty customers. Downtown business owners cried foul, but felt powerless. We took photos of the stationary cart every half hour, documenting the ordinance violation. The results were a great, albeit tiny slice of investigative reporting on a breaking news topic, in an election cycle. The story also inspired an editorial a significant reader feedback.
What new multimedia initiative or project did you accomplish? How was it successful?
We got all of our reporters and editors on Twitter. We used crowdsourcing to determine our top 10 stories of the year. More video, more photo galleries and lots of file posting.
What tangible change did you provoke in your coverage area or newsroom?
Our coverage of a skateboarder who was hit by a car and died led to proposed legislation. We did photo galleries, uploaded the suspect's driving record, and sought out opinion content. We designed a full front page exposing his incredibly long list of driving arrests/citations, and used video from a local television station. At the end of the year, readers picked it as one of the year's top stories.
RUNNER UP
Pekin Daily Times, Pekin, Ill.
FINALISTS
The Newton Kansan, Newton, Kan.
Hannibal Courier-Post, Hannibal, Mo.
PUBLISHER Sean Burke
EDITOR Lisa Strattan
ONLINE www.tauntongazette.com
ABOUT THE ENTRY The coverage of local politics in the Taunton Daily Gazette was outstanding, and the judges were extremely impressed with the wide variety of new projects undertaken by the small staff. The strong commitment to teamwork is evident throughout the newspaper, and the focus on community involvement through print features, social media and initiatives such as the “Best and Brightest” competition is commendable. This is a first-class effort by a motivated and talented staff.
Q&A WITH THE TAUNTON DAILY GAZETTE
What story or series were you most proud of in 2011? What gave it impact?
On the face of it, this story may seem petty, small potatoes. But in the context of the 2011 city election, this story was a big deal to downtown business owners and political observers throughout the city. The Gazette engaged in a "stake-out" investigation, looking into allegations that a sitting city councilor and mayoral candidate was breaking a city ordinance by parking his ice cream parlor's roving frozen lemonade carts outside the newly opened Taunton District Courthouse. Ordinance states the carts had to move once every half hour, and at least a couple hundred feet. The carts owned by Tom Hoye (then aspiring to be mayor) parked outside the courthouse in the middle of summer, and did not move, all day, tapping all the courthouse's emerging thirsty customers. Downtown business owners cried foul, but felt powerless. We took photos of the stationary cart every half hour, documenting the ordinance violation. The results were a great, albeit tiny slice of investigative reporting on a breaking news topic, in an election cycle. The story also inspired an editorial a significant reader feedback.
What new multimedia initiative or project did you accomplish? How was it successful?
We got all of our reporters and editors on Twitter. We used crowdsourcing to determine our top 10 stories of the year. More video, more photo galleries and lots of file posting.
What tangible change did you provoke in your coverage area or newsroom?
Our coverage of a skateboarder who was hit by a car and died led to proposed legislation. We did photo galleries, uploaded the suspect's driving record, and sought out opinion content. We designed a full front page exposing his incredibly long list of driving arrests/citations, and used video from a local television station. At the end of the year, readers picked it as one of the year's top stories.
RUNNER UP
Pekin Daily Times, Pekin, Ill.
FINALISTS
The Newton Kansan, Newton, Kan.
Hannibal Courier-Post, Hannibal, Mo.
