Black Catholics win big in Catholic Press Awards

The winners of the Catholic Press Awards were announced last month, and Black Catholics took home a number of awards, alongside others that went to coverage of stories and issues in the Black community.

The winners were announced during the Catholic Media Association’s annual conference, titled “Anchored in Hope” and held virtually from June 8-10th.

Several categories concerned social justice topics specifically, including that of creation care, workers’ rights, Whole Life ethics, poverty, and solidarity. In addition, several larger classifications concerning video content, multimedia, podcasts, and blogs, were broken down into sub-categories concerning social justice.

The third-place winner of a more general category, Photographer of the Year, went to a retiring Black member of the Catholic press, Michael Alexander of the Georgia Bulletin (the diocesan newspaper for the diocese of the Archdiocese of Atlanta). He left his post in March.

His work was included in a number of other categories, including the Bulletin’s third-place finish for Best Multimedia Package (News) and Best Online Content Not Published in Print (Photo). Both honors came for the paper’s coverage of a Catholic protest march in downtown Atlanta following the murder of George Floyd.

The Archdiocese of Washington won similarly, with its Catholic Standard paper taking second place for Best Photograph (National/International Event), captured at a Josephite-led protest march in June 2020.

Philadelphia’s diocesan news website took second in Best Photo Story (News) and Best Photograph (General News Photo) for its coverage of a protest as well, an ecumenical event held that same month.

Black Catholic contributors who took home awards include New Orleans’ Ty Salvant for “Time to Clean House”, which helped the Clarion Herald’s NOLA Catholic Parenting site win second for Best Blog (Topical News).

Salvant also participated in the site’s broadcast on the intersection of COVID-19 and education, which helped the Clarion win first for Best Video Panel Discussion and for Best Podcast (Topical News). The other NCP panel involved in both awards, which concerned life after a miscarriage, featured Black Catholic author Megan Lacourrege (who has written a children’s book on the topic).

The Clarion also took third for Best Regular Column (Racial Inequities), which included guest writers (and Black Catholics) Don Boucree and Fr Anthony Bozeman, SSJ. The winner of that category was “The Griot’s Cross”, a monthly Black Catholic history column from Dr. Shannen Dee Williams of the USCCB’s Catholic News Service.

The Archdiocese of Detroit took home third place for Best Podcast (Social Justice) with an episode on racism for its “Eyes on Jesus” show from Archbishop Allen Vigneron. He was joined by Fr John McKenzie—a Black priest, former monk, and author of a children’s book on St Benedict of Nursia (the founder of the order to which McKenzie once belonged).

Carol Norris Greene of Baltimore’s Catholic Review took second place in the Best Guest Column/Commentary category for “Where Do We Go From Here?”, her reflection on participating in the original March on Washington.

CNS took home first for Best Video (Social Justice) with its vignette on racism featuring Cardinal Wilton Gregory and Deacon Steven Rubio, and for Best Multimedia Package (Social Justice) with its coverage of the aforementioned protest march in DC.

Coverage in November of Gregory’s elevation to the cardinalate gained the Catholic Standard third place in Best Print Special Supplement (Bishop Transition), and Gregory’s own column on racial inequities for the US Catholic Health Association’s Health Progress journal won first place for Best Essay (Professional and Special Interest Magazines).

Another Health Progress piece, also on racial disparities in healthcare, placed first in Best Reporting on Social Justice Issues (Option for the Poor and Vulnerable); as well as second in Best Layout or Article Column (Scholarly Magazine, Prayer and Spirituality Magazines and Print Newsletters), Best Writing (Analysis), and Best Feature Article (Racial Inequities).

The Catholic Standard also won first for Best Multimedia Package Series for its groundbreaking “Black Catholic Voices” series, which interviewed parishioners from across the diocese to provide a Black perspective on the faith.

Another notable awardee was the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, whose Angelus News won big for its coverage of the faith life of the late Kobe Bryant, who died tragically last January.

Their “Kobe the Catholic” piece took first place for news profiles of the laity, and together with two other pieces—a reflection from the LA bishops and a piece on a local high school team inspired by Bryant’s legacy—also won top honors in Best Sports reporting.