SEATED ARE COURIER ASSISTANT TO THE PUBLISHER STEPHAN BROADUS, COURIER EDITOR AND PUBLISHER ROD DOSS AND COURIER OFFICE MANAGER ALLISON PALM. STANDING ARE COURIER GRAPHIC DESIGNER WARREN KING, COURIER SALES DIRECTOR ASHLEY JOHNSON AND COURIER MANAGING EDITOR ROB TAYLOR JR.
Parent company Real Times Media took home 8 awards in total
Normally, those in Baltimore, home to the rabid Ravens fans of the NFL, aren’t too fond of the Terrible Towel-waving, Steel City-marching Pittsburghers who love their Steelers.
But on June 20, 2024, Pittsburgh got a little love while in the Charm City.
During the National Newspaper Publisher Association’s annual Messenger Awards at the Four Seasons Hotel in Baltimore, the New Pittsburgh Courier won three national awards for its editorial and journalistic prowess.
The Courier won two second-place awards for Best Layout & Design (Broadsheet) and Newsletter Excellence, and a third-place award for Best Business Story/Feature.
In the past four years (2021-2024), the Courier has won 18 NNPA Messenger Awards, including seven in 2021, five in 2022, and three in 2023. The Courier was named the third-best African American newspaper in the country in 2021, and won first-place in the Newspaper Excellence category in 2022.
REAL TIMES MEDIA CEO AND MICHIGAN CHRONICLE PUBLISHER HIRAM E. JACKSON, NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER EDITOR AND PUBLISHER ROD DOSS, AND MICHIGAN CHRONICLE EXECUTIVE EDITOR JEREMY ALLEN ACCEPT THE NNPA MESSENGER AWARDS, JUNE 20, 2024, IN BALTIMORE.
The Courier’s parent company, Real Times Media, also owns the Michigan Chronicle (Detroit), which took home five awards on June 20. The Chronicle placed first for Best Facebook Campaign, second-place for Website Excellence and Best Entertainment Section, and third-place for Best Education Story/Feature and Best Original Photography.
Overall, Real Times Media won eight awards, after winning seven in 2023.
“These awards are truly a testament to the dedication of our teams to tell stories that are reflective of our communities,” said Hiram E. Jackson, CEO of Real Times Media and Publisher of the Michigan Chronicle, in a story posted to the Michigan Chronicle and NNPA websites. “I want to congratulate the Real Times Media staff for constantly staying abreast of the most important issues and reporting on these issues through the lens of the Black Press, which has served as our collective voice for the last 197 years.”
Rod Doss, Editor and Publisher of the Courier, added: “It’s a great honor to be recognized for excellence by your peers, and it’s the collective hard work of the Real Times Media team – constantly learning and adapting with the times – that makes these honors truly special. We are constantly searching for new ways to serve our communities, and it’s critically important, especially during such a tumultuous political climate, to continue to inform, educate and entertain our readers with accurate and insightful journalism.”
Competition is the key word when referring to the NNPA Messenger Awards. A highlight of the NNPA Annual Convention, some 200 Black publications across the U.S. submit their best journalistic work in nearly 25 categories to the NNPA, which are then rated by independent judges.
This year, the winner of the Newspaper of the Year went to the St. Louis American (Russwurm Award), which won a total of 12 awards. The Houston Forward Times won seven awards; The Atlanta Voice, The Observer (Sacramento) and The Baltimore Times each won six; The New York Amsterdam News won five; The Houston Defender won four; Insight News (Minnesota) and the Afro American (Baltimore) each won three; the Final Call, Texas Metro News, Los Angeles Sentinel, Seattle Medium and Philadelphia Tribune each won two; and the Washington Informer and Minnesota Spokesman Recorder each won one award.
The Baltimore Times’ Joy Bramble was named Publisher of The Year.