Winning isn’t everything, but it sure feels good when it happens.
Thursday, June 5, was a night of trophies and honors for Times Review Media Group at the annual Press Club of Long Island 2025 Media Awards. Held at the Fox Hollow Restaurant & Hotel in Woodbury, N.Y., the well-attended annual event is meant to celebrate and highlight journalistic excellence from Long Island’s newspaper, magazine, digital and radio communities.
Representing Times Review Media at the ceremony of 220 attendees was lifestyle publications editor-in-chief Amy Zavatto and staff news reporter Ana Borruto, both of whom won first-place awards for the work.
“It’s a tremendous honor to receive awards for these two particular stories that are all about amplifying marginalized voices in the North Fork and Riverhead communities – those who want and need to be heard,” Borruto says of her first and third place nods for investigative and educational reporting. “I’m proud to work with such a passionate, dedicated group of people who handle our hyperlocal coverage with immense care and understand how much it means to our readers.”
TRM’s myriad publications took home a dozen awards between the trio of newspapers — The Suffolk Times, The Riverhead News Review and The Shelter Island Reporter — and Northforker and Southforker magazines.
This included the special Robert W. Green Public Service Award for the Shelter Island Reporter, an annual honor awarded in the name of the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Bob Greene. This special yearly acknowledgement is earmarked for a story, series, column or editorial that had an impact on Long Island. The Reporter earned the distinction for its “essential role in the Shelter Island community with a series of community forums to augment its services to islanders while at the same time facing the possibility that it could be sold or shuttered.”
The Suffolk Times also garnered the coveted Best Community Weekly Newspaper award, about which PCLI judges commented, “This newspaper has it all. Hyper-local news in the community, community voices, local sports. It is also extremely well designed, eye-catching, and easy to read. All great qualities for readers in the local community.”
The awards won by TRMG are as follows:
The Suffolk Times
- 1st place, Best Community Weekly Newspaper – judges’ comments: “This newspaper has it all. Hyper-local news in the community, community voices, local sports. It is also extremely well designed, eye-catching, and easy to read. All great qualities for readers in the local community.”
- 3rd Place, Investigative Reporting, Ana Borruto for “Vineyard View Tenants Face Displacement”
Riverhead News Review
- 1st place in Education Reporting, Ana Borruto, for “Concerns Raised Over Juneteenth Essay Contest
Shelter Island Reporter
- Reporter of the Year, Ambrose Clancy
- Best Column, Ambrose Clancy
The Southforker
- 1st place, Lifestyle Feature “The Accidental Oysterman: Bert Waif’s Eel Town Oysters” by Amy Zavatto with photography by Eleanor P. Labrozzi
- 1st place, Entertainment Feature, “If These Walls Could Talk: How the Stephen Talkhouse Survived Nearly Four Decades – So Far – in the Live Music Industry” by Nicholas Grasso with photography by Nicholas Grasso
- 2nd place, Lifestyle Feature, “The Real Horse Whisperers: Behind the Scenes at the Hampton Classic, the Grooms Who Care for the Equine” by Amy Zavatto with photography by David Benthal
The Northforker
- 1st place, Profile Feature, “Spirit in the Sound: Fishing with Mattituck’s Sea Queen” by Stephanie Villani with photography by Jeremy Garretson,
- 1st place, Food & Beverage Feature, “Beefed Up: On the North Fork, Small Farms Work to Make a Big Impact on the Meat We Eat” by Amy Zavatto with photography by Jeremy Garretson
- 3rd place, Neighborhood/Community Feature, “The Secret Sauce: Chicken Barbecues Are the North Fork’s Hottest Summer Tradition” by Lee Meyer with photography by Jeremy Garretson
“Our goal is to produce the most compelling community journalism. We are honored that our news and lifestyle brands were recognized for excellence by the Press Club of Long Island,” said Times Review Media publisher Andrew Olsen. “We have an incredibly talented team that is committed to producing the very best work for our readers. We were honored to take home so many awards across categories and are incredibly proud of our team.
The Press Club of Long Island was founded in 1974 with a mission to promote journalistic advocacy, and is a chapter of the 216-year-old Society of Professional Journalists, the oldest national organization representing United States journalists.
In addition to the PCLI awards, this year TRMG also garnered a first place statewide for Best Personality Profile for senior editor Stephanie Villani’s story on female commercial fisher, Regina Migdalski, “Spirit in the Sound: Fishing with Mattituck’s Sea Queen” as well as a second place win for “Overall Magazine Excellence” for the Northforker from the New York Press Association. In addition, newspaper digital editor Angela Colangelo brought home a first place honor from the New York State Outdoor Writers Association for her in-depth piece on an artisan fishing lure maker “Making the Bait: How Larry Welcome Spun a Career Out of Wood.”
