The Sachem Report was named best news blog at this year’s 2013 Press Club of Long Island Media Awards held Wednesday evening at Woodbury Country Club.
The @SachemReport Twitter account also won first place for “best use of Twitter.”
The “Sachem News Hour” radio program on 91.9-FM, WSHR, won second place for educational radio reporting. An interview done between myself and Olympian Marcia Michta during the “Sachem News Hour” won second place for best radio profile.
My Olympic coverage from London in 2012 also won first place for “best use of social media by an individual.” Throughout Michta’s 20k racewalk, I used a number of social media platforms to communicate with the Sachem community and report her results and success in realtime. I used @SachemSchools, @SachemReport, Facebook, Instagram, and a handful of other sites to get as much information about Michta out there as possible from across the pond.
Since I still worked for Aol’s Patch.com as the editor of Sachem Patch in early 2012, I also won an honor for second place in the category of “best use of Facebook.” Before leaving Patch in March 2012, the Sachem Patch Facebook page had more than 5,500 followers, the highest in the company with more than 900 Facebook pages country-wide. All work awarded in 2013 is from the 2012 calendar year.
Lastly, I was honored with the 2013 Phil Spahn Memorial Award, presented to a Press Club of Long Island member who dedicates service to Long Island journalism, the press club and community. This is a tremendous honor and privilege.
Thanks to everyone who has made Sachem Report a part of their lives. Without the Sachem community, my information and communication means nothing. None of these honors would be possible. #GoArrows
-Chris R. Vaccaro