INDIANAPOLIS – The Catholic Review received seven awards, including two first-place honors, for reporting and editing from the Catholic Press Association June 22 at the association’s Catholic Media Conference.

Matt Palmer, currently Catholic Review social media coordinator, garnered two awards for reporting on young people: first place for Best Reporting on Young Adults for a series on millennial Catholics and a third place for Best Coverage of World Youth Day.

 

(Read: "Growing Up Millennial" Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4)  

Of “Growing up millennial,” the judges said, “The variety of coverage in this special series is extensive and provides a good sense of young adults, their thought processes, struggles and hopes. The mixture of quotes and researched facts blends nicely.”

 

The judges also said that Palmer’s coverage personalized World Youth Day with thorough reporting.

The gun turn-in program sponsored by The Catholic Review at two Baltimore parishes, St. Gregory the Great and St. Wenceslaus, was the subject of an August 2011 editorial, “Summer crime fueled by guns,” which won first place for Best Editorial on a Local Issue in the large diocesan newspaper category.

Judges said the editorial, by associate publisher/editor Christopher Gunty, was “reminiscent of a good, old-fashioned newspaper crusade, where the newspaper itself pursues a cause for the common good.” They added, “Commentary resists the temptation to over-promise, but answers the question why take action if it’s only a drop in the bucket.”

George Matysek Jr., currently assistant managing editor, won a third-place award for best feature writing in the large diocesan newspaper category with a special report from Poland, “Deep-rooted Polish faith faces secular challenge.” The judges praised the piece as a “well-documented story that doesn’t forget the human element in a battle between ancient faith and modern life.”

Cardinal Edwin F. O’Brien’s column, “Thoughts on Our Church” was honored for the second year in a row by the association in the category for columns by bishops and archbishops, this year with an honorable mention. Three columns by the then-archbishop – on Ash Wednesday, service and veterans – were part of the entry that received recognition.

Palmer and Matysek each picked up an honorable mention. Palmer got the nod for a story in the category of Best Coverage of a Routine Sacramental Event, “I was lost, but now am found,” about a man with a disability who returned to the church and was confirmed at St. Clement Mary Hofbauer in Rosedale. Competing against all membership categories, Matysek was honored in the Best Freestanding/Online Multimedia Presentation of Video category for “Baltimore remembers Pratt Street Riot of 1861.”

The Catholic Press Association, established in 1911, is the oldest religious press association in the country. It includes newspaper, magazine, newsletter, online and book publishers. The annual Catholic Press Awards were given at the closing banquet at the Crowne Plaza Union Station in Indianapolis at the association’s 101st annual conference.