Five years ago, we launched RiverheadLOCAL on a wing and a prayer. I wasn’t sure it would survive, let alone thrive and grow the way it has — expanding in 2014 to cover the entire North Fork with SoutholdLOCAL. I certainly never dreamed that within five years, we’d be recognized as one of the top news websites on Long Island.
Yet last night, that’s exactly what happened.
RiverheadLOCAL and SoutholdLOCAL took home a third place award in the Best Website category at the Press Club of Long Island 2015 Media Awards.
We were in distinguished company in the Best Website category. First place went to the Long Island Press and second place went to Newsday. And these two little start-up independent local news websites on the North Fork walked away with third.
The Best Website category is in the contest’s “narrative division,” which means it’s an award for the coverage we provide as well as for how we present it.
Peter and I could not be more proud of the great group of people who make our sites run, starting with our daughters, Katie and Courtney Blasl, who built and designed them. They play an integral role in this fledgling company: from writing and editing to marketing and social media. SoutholdLOCAL editor Lisa Finn is as dedicated as they come and puts her heart and soul into her work — and it shows. Laurie Nigro and Amy Davidson are the glue that keeps our operation together, keeping us organized and on track. I’m not sure where we’d be without them. Dawn Bozuhoski, who’s been with us from almost the beginning, writes, edits and creates ads; she does just about anything that needs doing — and does it well.
That’s it — the entire staff roster. The secret to our success, I think, is how versatile and creative we all are. We’re all the kind of people who thrive on doing many different kinds of things.
We have a small but excellent group of freelancers who fill things out: Michael Hejmej, sportswriter; George Faella, sports photographer; and columnists Eileen Benthal, Kayleigh Van Vliet Baig, Celia Iannelli and Brian Nigro.
Peter and I are humbled and honored by this recognition. We thank the people who make “the LOCALs” happen every day and we thank the people who keep it going: our loyal advertisers and readers. Without them, of course, we wouldn’t be here.
So, thank you for embracing our endeavors and thank you for your loyalty. We will continue to do our best to bring you local news that matters to you — news that matters to us, because we live here too. And that, I think, is the driving force for all of us in what we do: love for our community. It’s that love that drives us to do our level best to bring you comprehensive, high-quality coverage of the people, events and issues that define our community. Awards are nice, but we hope, when all else is said and done, that’s how you know and remember us: People who love this place and work hard to make it better.
Denise Civiletti is an owner of East End Local Media Corp., publishers of RiverheadLOCAL.com and SoutholdLOCAL.com. An award-winning reporter, she is an attorney and former Riverhead Town councilwoman (1988-1991); she lives in Riverhead with her husband and business partner, Peter Blasl. The views expressed in her blog are hers alone.
Send Denise an email.
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