Call staff takes home awards at RI Press Association banquet

May 9, 2012

Call photographer Ernest A. Brown won first place from the Rhode Island Press Association in the general news photo category for this photograph, ‘Good Night Irene,’ of waves crashing against the sea wall in Naragansett during the height of Hurricane Irene.

NORTH KINGSTOWN — Four staffers from the Woonsocket Call and Pawtucket Times took home a total of five Rhode Island Press Association awards during the group’s annual banquet at the Quonset O in North Kingstown Friday.
The showing was especially strong for photographers, who dominated the general news category. Ernest Brown took home a first place plaque for “Good Night Irene,” his dramatic photo of a tsunami-like wave crashing against the sea wall in Narragansett during the height of Hurricane Irene.
Photographer Butch Adams won both second- and third-place prizes in the same category, the former for “Guardsman Laid to Rest,” a photograph taken during the funeral of a Pawtucket soldier killed in combat. The judges praised him for his tactful handling of a difficult subject.
Adams also won for a photograph illustrating a story about retiree pension cuts in Central Falls.
Staff writer Jon Baker took home a second place award in the category of education story for “Taking on Bullying.” The judges called it “an excellent piece and just barely behind first place.”
Assistant editor Russ Olivo took home an honorable mention in the “unique/most unexpected category” for the piece, “Vultures Descend on Woonsocket,” about a growing population of the scavenger birds roosting in the North End. The judges called it an “unexpected, unique, fun read.”
All of the honored work appeared in The Call, The Times, or both, during the 2011 calendar year.