Despite every challenge of 2020, the NJ Advance Media editorial team raised the bar for journalistic excellence.

We’d be remiss to not lead with the recent ComScore announcement that NJ.com ranked as the No. 1 Local News site in the country.

Shortly after, we learned that the team swept the competition at the New Jersey Press Association’s 2020 Better Newspaper Contest, taking home a total of 38 awards including the general excellence award for both The Star-Ledger and The Express-Times.

In early February, Brad Wilson, veteran sports reporter for The Express-Times and lehighvalleylive.com, was named the next recipient of the prestigious Bob Dellinger Award, recognizing the nation’s top wrestling writers and considered one of the oldest sports writing prizes in the nation.

Adding to the excitement of this year’s awards season is the most recent announcement from the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE). NJ Advance Media earned a pair of trophies in the 2020 ASPE contest for Writing/Video.

NJ Advance Media “competes in the top circulation category, against heavyweights like the New York Times, Washington Post, The Athletic, L.A. Times, Sports Illustrated and others – and we continue to prove we have the talent to compete (and often dominate) in that category.”  — Kevin Manahan, Sports Director

Winners of this year’s contest include:

• Playing Amid Pandemic, which won a Top 10 award for Projects. This was a team effort, led by Chris Faytok, David Liss and Steve Politi. Other contributors include reporters and editors: Brian Deakyne, Bill Evans, Kevin Minnick, Michael Kinney, Keith Sargeant, Matt Stanmyre, Andrew Koob, Brandon Gould, Joe Zedalis, Jason Bernstein, James Kratch, Patrick Lanni, Tim McClain and John Haley; photographers Andy Mills, Michael Mancuso and Aris Economopoulos; and videographers Andre Malok and Dwayne Uzoaru.

• Steve Politi, who in 2018 was proclaimed the No. 1 sports columnist in the nation, again was named among the country’s Top 10. (The APSE will announce final rankings at a later date.)

Congratulations to the NJ Advance Media editorial team on all of their achievements!