The Star Tribune received 97 awards from the Society for News Design's annual Creative Competition, considered the top visual journalism contest, which took place this month.
Star Tribune wins visual journalism awards
Photography and design competitions recognize coverage of COVID-19, zoning and Daunte Wright's death.
March 26, 2022 at 8:03PM
Competing against organizations around the world, the Star Tribune was recognized for excellence in digital and print design, with multiple silver and bronze awards for stories including "How housing rules keep the metro segregated," "Unsettled: How accident victims have surrendered millions," "The last normal photo," "Weeklong call for justice" and "Photos of the year."
Among the design team's many staff portfolio awards, Mike Rice, Josh Jones, Madalyne Bird, Anna Boone and Greg Mees received individual honors. The Star Tribune placed third overall in the Best of Print News Design competition, behind the New York Times and the Washington Post.
The Star Tribune also received several recent awards from two prestigious photojournalism competitions. Pictures of the Year International, run by the Missouri School of Journalism, awarded staff photographer Aaron Lavinsky first place in Local News Picture Story, for his coverage of a Minnesota COVID-ward nurse, and second place as Photographer of the Year, Local. Photographer Carlos Gonzalez was a finalist in the Sports Action category. Two photo editors were also honored: Kevin Martin was named Visual Editor of the Year, with Cheryl Diaz Meyer as the second-place finalist.
The National Press Photographers Association Best of Photojournalism contest honored the Star Tribune with several awards in video, sports action photography, and photo editing. Lavinsky, Gonzalez and Meyer received individual recognition, as did video journalist Mark Vancleave.
For Star Tribune senior managing editor and vice president Suki Dardarian, reviewing the winning works felt like reliving the year, in all its joy and pain.
"Visual journalists can elevate the power of a story in so many ways," she said. "Our photographers have documented the life of this community, from anguish of police shootings and crime, to a poignant moment in a COVID-19 unit, to the elation of returning to the State Fair. And our designers integrate the words, images and graphics to help the reader truly experience a story — in print and digitally — be it an investigation, a breaking news story or a narrative."
As all of us have spent so much time apart these past two years, Dardarian reflected, "this work was even more valuable in helping our readers see, feel and be a part of their community."
The governor said it may be 2027 or 2028 by the time the market catches up to demand.
