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The Detroit Jewish News and Atlanta Jewish Times top all other Jewish newspapers at awards competition.

T

he Detroit Jewish News was saluted by its
peers with six awards for the year 2000 —
including two first-place honors — in
Jewish journalism's.most prestigious
national competition.
The 20th annual Simon Rockower Awards for
Excellence in Jewish Journalism, sponsored by the
American Jewish Press Association, drew 900 entries
from across the United States and Canada. Award cer-
tificates were presented June 7 at the AJPA convention
in Denver.
The six awards won by the Detroit Jewish News
were the most by any Jewish newspaper with circula-
tion exceeding 15,000. The Atlanta Jewish Times, sis-
ter publication of the JN, likewise won six awards,
leading its class of newspapers with circulation under
15,000. Both the Detroit and Atlanta papers are
flagship publications of Southfield-based Jewish
Renaissance Media, under the day-to-day direction
of Arthur M. Horwitz, .- , president.
The Jewish News' Creative Services team, led by
Creative D rector Jeffrey Torok and Art Director
Debbie Schultz, received first-place kudos for
Excellence in Overall Graphic Design — the sixth

second place honors for Excellence in Editorial
Writing for three editorials he wrote on the Mideast
("It Is Our Jerusalem," March 24; "Feasting On
Your Children," Nov. 10; and "Barak's Balagan,"
Dec. 29).
• JNAssociate Editor Alan Hitsky took second
place for Excellence in Special Sections &
Supplements for The Family Business, a close-up por-
trait of local, family-run Jewish enterprise.
• Style at the Jewish News, a monthly JN lifestyle
supplement produced by Style Magazine editor Carla
Schwartz, earned second place for Excellencein
Special Sections & Supplements in the Jewish maga-
zine competition.
Editor Robert Sklar represented the Jewish News at
the AJPA's annual conference, co-hosted by Denver's

Intermountain Jewish News.

"To accept the awards before an audience of my
peers was truly an honor," Sklar said. "Our commit-
ment remains to quality Jewish journalism that pro-
vides a global and national perspective, but always
with special emphasis on metro Detroit."
The Atlanta Jewish Times received awards for:
• Excellence in Feature Writing: Elyssa Mosbacher,

Above:
The JN issue of
Dec. 1, 2000 —
prize-winning desig,r,

Schultz

.Cohen

Sachs

time in 11 years that the JN has been recognized as
North America's best-looking, large-circulation Jewish
newspaper. Three JN issues were judged: April 28,
Dec. 1 and Dec. 8.
The annual JN SourceBook: Your Complete Guide to
Jewish Living in Metropolitan Detroit, edited by Keri
Guten Cohen, scored the first-place prize for
Excellence in Special Sections & Supplements — for
the second straight year.
Both first-place awards received by the JN this year
were ties, shared with the Baltimore Jewish Times.
The Detroit Jewish News, in addition, won four
second-place honors for 2000:
• The Boris Smolar Award for Excellence in
Comprehensive Coverage or Investigative Reporting,
second place, went to Copy Editor David Sachs and
Staff Writer Shelli Liebman Dorfman for their two-
part cover story probing Jewish attitudes on organ
donation. The series ran Dec. 22 and 29 and can be
accessed through the "Past Cover Stories" archive of
the JN Online Web site:
www.detroitjewishnews.corn
• JN National Editor Jonathan Friendly earned

6/1 5

2001

12

Dorfman

Friendly

Hitsky

Schwartz

first place; Steven H. Pollak, honorable mention;
• Excellence in Special Section & Supplements,
"Celebrating 75" (marking the paper's 75th anniver-
sary), second place;
• Excellence in Overall Graphic Design, Creative
Director Tripp Lyles and his team, second place;
• Excellence in Personality Profiles, Jill Jordan
Sieder, second place;
• The Louis Rapoport Award for Excellence in
Commentary, Editor Jacob Schreiber, honorable
mention.
Jewish News publisher Arthur Horwitz, who also
attended the convention, said, "We're honored to
receive recognition for the substance and presenta-
tion of important information to our readers in
Detroit and Atlanta.
"We are fortunate to have assembled a very talent-
ed group of writers, designers and editors whose
work continually ranks at the top of their profes-
sions — both inside and outside the Jewish media.
"Our desire is to continue to provide our readers
with the best publications they can find in any city
in North America," Horwitz added.

❑

Sklar

Horwitz

Below: The top-ratea
JN SourceBook

SourceBook

.

Guide To

Jewish Living

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