The Tablet Named Second-Best Weekly in the United States
The Tablet Staff
WINDSOR TERRACE — The Tablet and Nuestra Voz, the newspapers of the Diocese of Brooklyn, took home dozens of awards, 68 combined, from the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada on July 2, cementing them as prominent publications in Catholic media.
Award highlights for The Tablet include second place for Best Weekly Diocesan Newspaper (the St. Louis Review took the top spot), first place for Best Layout of Article or Column, first place for Best Editorial on a Local Issue, first place for Best Writing on a National or International Event, first place for Best Investigative News Writing, and first place for Best Web and Print Package.
Standout awards for Nuestra Voz, the diocese’s monthly Spanish-language newspaper, include first place for Best Coverage of Pro-Life Issues, first place for Best Local Newswriting, first place for Best Regular Column for Religious Life, first place for Best Regular Column for Family Life, and second place for Best Cover.
“I am very proud of the team for the work they did in achieving these honors,” said Msgr. Kieran Harrington, president and chairman of DeSales Media Group, the non-profit communication and technology arm of the Diocese of Brooklyn, which also produces Currents News, a nightly program that reports on secular and religious news from the Catholic perspective.
“I have seen first-hand day in and day out the long hours and the constant dedication to excellence in journalism and fidelity to the Church,” Msgr. Harrington added.
The Catholic Press Association was established more than a century ago with the intention of connecting “the outstanding work of its publisher and communication members as they strive to further the mission of the Church,” according to its website. Today, 225 Catholic publications are members.
“It is an honor to receive these awards because they serve as an important reminder of the responsibility we carry as journalists within and outside of the Church,” said Vito Formica, executive director of news content and development at DeSales.
“It’s our mission to connect these two worlds for our audience,” he added.
The Tablet has been in print since 1908. Just recently, the newspaper helped its readers put the COVID-19 pandemic in perspective by revisiting articles and pictures it printed during the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic.
The coverage showed how, in some ways, history is repeating itself. Images of overflowing hospitals, pleas for people to wear masks, the heartbreaking losses of beloved priests, and closed churches were all the realities of that time in New York City.
Faced with a similar situation in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic was the straw that broke the camel’s back for many publications that were already struggling to stay afloat in a digital world.
Several newspapers decided to cease their print operation. However, DeSales Media made a determined commitment to keep the presses running.
“When the work-from-home orders came out, we all grabbed our laptops, set up our Zoom meetings, and went to work remotely said Editor-in-Chief of Print Publications Jorge Domínguez.
Domínguez took over the print portion of the operation in 2018 as the newspaper began to make several changes including: establishing a convergence with its sister brands, adapting a digital-first model, and a redesign of its pages with an emphasis on bolder graphics, additional sections, and more local coverage.
“It has been a huge challenge, but we haven’t missed an edition of the papers during the pandemic,” Domínguez added.
It was a decision that offered a lifeline to readers who were desperately looking for news and information. Msgr. Harrington said, “From the very beginning of the pandemic, the entire DeSales family was committed to ensuring that no one in the Catholic community in Brooklyn and Queens would be isolated or alone.”
According to Formica, online readership doubled during the peak of the pandemic. For a complete list of the Catholic Press Awards won by The Tablet, Nuestra Voz, and the DeSales Media Marketing and Communications departments, visit www.thetablet.org/2020awards.