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Times/Review Newsgroup wins five Press Club of L.I. awards

PRESS CLUB OF L.I. COURTESY PHOTO | Times/Review web editor Grant Parpan with his first place sportswriting award.

Times/Review Newsgroup took home five awards at the Press Club of Long Island awards dinner at Woodbury Country Club Thursday night.

Three of the five awards came from the company’s 20 Greatest Athletes in Area History series, including a first place sportswriting award in the print weeklies division for web editor Grant Parpan for his feature “Riverhead’s humble Giant,” about the career of Aquebogue native and former New York Giants halfback ‘Big’ Ed Danowski.

“I’m going to be a humble giant myself tonight and simply say thank you,” Mr. Parpan said in his acceptance speech.

The second place award for sportswriting in the print weekly division went to sports editor Bob Liepa, for his feature on Shoreham-Wading River wrestling great Jesse Jantzen.

The complete 20 Greatest Athletes series, which only ran in its entirety online, won second place in the online sports division.

Coverage of the sudden deaths of two different homeless women also led to second place awards for Times/Review staff writers. Reporter Jennifer Gustavson won in the online deadline news category for a story on a homeless woman found dead in a Rocky Point park. Reporters Vera Chinese and Tim Gannon won in print weekly deadline news for their piece on a homeless woman killed at the Budget Host Inn in Riverside.

“It’s always great to be recognized by our peers for doing what we love to do,” said Times/Review publisher Andrew Olsen. “These awards are a reflection of the hard work by everyone at Times/Review.”

Karl Grossman, whose syndicated Suffolk Closeup column is printed regularly in the Shelter Island Reporter, was honored for 50 years in journalism. He founded the Press Club of Long Island in 1974.

The highest individual honor of the night, the 2012 Outstanding Long Island Journalist Award, was presented to Newsday political reporter Rick Brand for his career achievements.

Mr. Brand thanked many of the other writers and reporters he’s worked alongside in his more than three decade career covering politics on Long Island, and he said there’s no more rewarding job in this business than beat reporting.

“I’m a reporter, not a journalist,” he said.

PCLI also gave this year’s Cub Reporter of the Year award, an award won last year by Ms. Gustavson, to Rashed Mian of the Long Island Press.

The Press Club of Long Island is a professional chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, the nation’s largest journalism organization, with 60 pro chapters and 250 student chapters nationwide. SPJ is dedicated to encouraging the free practice of journalism and stimulating high standards of ethical behavior.

More than 100 awards, judged by different SPJ chapters around the country, were handed out at Thursday night’s dinner. Click here for a complete list of winners and more photos from the event.