High Marks solidarity mission organized by the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit to Israel during the current intifada (Palestinian uprising) and has sent a reporter to chronicle the dedica- tion of Detroit Jews participating in each one. The MPA cited David Sachs as win- ner of its fourth-place award for able to chronicle the tragedy in a very Enterprise Feature from 51 entries for complete and compelling way." his four-week series on Federation's All winning items cited in this arti- solidarity mission last December ("At cle can be accessed through the "Cover Israel's Side," on JN Online archive, Story Archive" of the Jewish News' Dec. 14, 2001). The mission followed Web site, JN Online: by a day the Jerusalem and Haifa ter- www.detroitjewishnews.com rorist bombings on Dec. 1. "David's four-part package localized Winning Cover how metro Detroiters were reacting to what was going on in their The JN also won recognition Jewish homeland," said Sklar. for its coverage of the after- "He also told the story math of the Sept. 11 attacks through the eyes of a cousin on the United States. who immigrated to Israel. His In the Spot News Picture stories underscore our com- category, among 20 entrants, mitment to Federation's mis- JN Staff Photographer Krista sions to Israel and our com- Husa won a second-place mitment to first-hand cover- award for her cover photo of Krista Husa age of the Jewish state." a child at a post-9-11 rally The Jewish News was also ("Standing As One," Oct. 5, awarded the second-place prize 2001). The cover photo for design from among 12 focused on the child's entrants. "Very clean, classic intense expression holding and elegant" is how judges both American and Israel deemed the paper's look. The flags at the rally. JN has placed either first or "The picture said it all in David Sachs second in design the last four terms of how Jews were feel- years. ing and responding to the "We spend a great deal of time and tragedy of 9-11," said Sklar. "It cap- energy on the look and presentation of tured in the look of this child the our paper — not just the content. sense of oneness the Jews were feeling And that's reflected in the caliber of once again, rallying together as a com- our designers and their commitment munity to show the world that we to compelling, eye-grabbing presenta- were Jews — but also Americans and tion," Sklar said. are doing our part to stand up for and "The comment here is very good; protect the freedoms that we all enjoy." `clean, classic, elegant' speaks to all As part of its Israel coverage, the these points." Jewish News has co-sponsored every The Jewish News is recognized for "general excellence" by fellow journalists. Editor Robert Sklar surveys the damage to the IN offices the day after the fire. I is been a tumultuous year for the Detroit Jewish News and the Jewish community it covers — a year marked by terrorism in the Jewish homeland, attacks upon the United States and a devastating fire at the JN offices. Despite the accidental but ravaging blaze Jan. 27 that destroyed the paper's Southfield offices, the JN did not miss a step. Citing the paper's "high marks in every category," the Michigan Press Association has given first-place hon- ors for General Excellence to the JN for the third time in four years. The awards were announced by the MPA Oct. 6 to begin National Newspaper Week. Journalists from the Georgia Press Association served as judges. Out of 27 weekly newspapers of similar circulation from around the state, the JN tied for the top prize in General Excellence with the Southfield Eccentric. In total, the JN received five awards covering all aspects of journal- ism, from breaking news coverage, to in-depth reporting, to photography, to artistic design. "I think it's significant that we placed well in the key categories of content and design, which represent the quality of the work we do," said JN Editor Robert A. Sklar. "Being a General Excellence winner so often speaks to how highly our publication is viewed by the secular press." Another award was for Spot News 10/11 2002 22 for the issue that was published just after the fire ("From The Ashes," Feb. 1, 2002). The second place prize was determined from among 33 entries. Under the direction of Sklar and Story Development Editor Keri Guten Cohen, the reporting staff of Harry Kirsbaum, Shelli Liebman Dorfman, Diana Lieberman and Sharon Luckerman spearheaded the team coverage. "The fact that we were honored for our fire coverage is significant on a number of levels," Sklar said, "not the least of which is that we didn't have a building or any of our files. We were standing in a parking lot watching our newspaper 'home' burn down, literally, and less than a week later, we were , — :, ,. ❑ . ,ki ,„„„...... dinars Its 60th arm Mar}, the Jetsis.t Nvvra rotinunds trein a devastating lire tis nentinue serving' ' .v o t,u1 . Xt The Oct. 5, 2001, cover won a Spot News Picture award; "From The Ashes" on Feb. 1, 2002, won a Spot News reporting award; four-part Israel Mission coverage in December 2001 was honored for Enterprise Feature.