OUR OWN HORN Phoenix claims two NCCJ awards

The Providence Phoenix won two Michael P. Metcalf Media Awards in the latest journalism competition sponsored by the southern New England chapter of the National Conference for Community and Justice. The awards, named for the late publisher of the Providence Journal, recognize "excellence in fostering understanding and goodwill." They were presented during the NCCJ’s annual meeting, held November 13 at the Rhode Island Foundation.

Contributing writer Brian C. Jones was recognized for "One woman’s fight," published July 25, 2002, which showed how, despite progress, many victims of domestic violence still have to endure harrowing abuse as they struggle to survive. The contest judges praised Jones’s "ability to present such painful and difficult material in a way that also contains the seeds of hope for change through awareness." The story previously won a first-place news prize from the Rhode Island Press Association.

News editor Ian Donnis received his award for "Ready to rumba," published June 27, 2003, which described how Latinos, the nation’s largest minority group, are gearing up for further gains in Rhode Island and steadily wielding more political power nationally. Citing a sense of vibrancy, optimism, and forward momentum, the judges found that Donnis’s story also "astutely analyzes the significant challenges faced by a community which is by no means uniform, and which struggles with issues of poverty and disadvantage."

Writers for the Providence Journal, Rhode Island Monthly, the Observer, as well as media students at Hope High School, in collaboration with Junior Achievement, and the Rhode Island Broadcasters Association, also won NCCJ awards.