NMJJ in Lab for Journalism ~ Religion News Awards, Society of Professional Journalists: "Important and timely."

by Diane Joy Schmidt
April 5, 2025

Celebrating our first year in publication, our voices are being heard in these difficult times and in the wider news ecosystem.

In Denver Saturday night the New Mexico Jewish Journal won six awards in the highly competitive Society of Professional Journalists Top of the Rockies 2025 awards, with top awards in Religi0n News, Religion Features and Illustration in the Small Newsrooms division, with 80 newspapers entering from Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. And last month our writers swept the New Mexico Press Women Awards with 7 first place awards and the most for one organization (22).

And, we have been chosen as one of 14 news organizations from New Mexico, along with two other states, California, and Illinois, to participate in the national Local Media Association's 6-month training program in philanthropy, Lab for Journalism Funding, as a member of the NM Local News Fund and Press Forward Accelerator cohort, with the kick-off training held in NYC April 1st. Read more about the program here.

It was energizing to be in New York City at a top-level training for news rooms. As a result, we're now planning a special project based on principles we've learned about how to best serve our community and do good.

Society of Professional Journalism Top of the Rockies Awards

Here are the 6 awards we received from the Society of Professional Journalism Top of the Rockies:

Religion News, First Place, At UNM Board of Regents meeting, protesters and Jewish students square off, by Diane Joy Schmidt. Judge's comment: "Important and timely."

Religion News, Second Place, Jews and the Crisis of the Religious Right in America, by Ron Duncan Hart.

Religion News, Third Place, Rabbi Neil Amswych, Facing Challenges for Santa Fe’s Jewish Community, by Brian Serle.

Religion Feature, Third Place, Jews, Hate Speech, and the Incitement to Violence by Ron Duncan Hart

Illustration, First Place, Roaming Hidden Places, by Frank Morgan. "A skillful and sensitive illustration, depicting another time and place. So appropriate to use a pencil for this illustration," was the judge's comment. Accompanies the short story "Perfidious."

Illustration, Third Place, Bandera, graphic illustration of Evangelicals and MAGA, in Jews and Christian Nationalism

In one year we’ve published over 100 articles - on a shoestring.

New Mexico Press Women Awards for New Mexico Jewish Journal

And at the NM Press Women Excellence in Communications Contest on March 22nd at the gala dinner of their conference held at Isleta Casino, we took home 7 1st place awards with a total of 25 honors for 13 of our writers – including 1st Place for the New Mexico Jewish Journal for the most awards by a single organization.

Our writers all worked very hard to write these articles out of the joy of their hearts, and that is what is making the New Mexico Jewish Journal a success. The detailed judge's comments for each entry were especially appreciated:

“Prophetically terrifying and a great history of the Evangelical takeover of the government leading us to a U.S. theocracy,” commented one judge about Ron Duncan Hart’s series, awarded 1st place in Government/Politics for Jews and the Crisis of the Religious Right in America and an Honorable Mention in Religion for Jews and Christian Nationalism. “Bandera,” the cover art by Gloria Abella Ballen for Hart’s featured book, Evangelicals and Maga: The Politics of Grievance a Half Century in the Making, won a 2nd place in Graphics, as it "effectively uses the American flag as a visual metaphor, integrating its colors and shape to reflect the book’s political theme." 

“An interesting website for the Jewish community with lots of information. Content is well-written and contains a wide variety of topics,” is the judge’s comment for a 1st place in Website Edited by Entrant/For-Profit for the New Mexico Jewish Journal for NMJJ’s editor Diane Joy Schmidt. Well, good for us!

The Fifth Question, a column about how to navigate the rocky shoals of Passover that seems like it might be even more relevant this year, got a 1st place for Schmidt, and the judge’s comment for Some personal thoughts on broader effects of the U.S. election, one of two other columns that placed, was especially rewarding: “Very well written, accurate, and prophetic!”

Master writer Norma Libman cached two very well-deserved 1st place awards in Reviews and in Travel for two unique feature stories, “Marco Polo Didn’t Have a Guide Book: Judith Fein Goes Deep in Exploring New Mexico” and “Looking for your ancestors? Let Judith Fein Show You How To Get the Real Story”.

Claudette Sutton swept all the possible awards available in Food; 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, for her Syrian family’s stories and recipes: Seeds of a Good Year: Black-Eyed Peas for Rosh Hashanah, Culinary Time Travel: Easy, Cheesy Sambusak and Heritage in a Bowl: My Heirloom Haroset, along with the review, Make Room for This One: The Eucalyptus Cookbook, evoking this pithy comment, “It prompts this goy girl to buy it.”

Lena Keslin won a 1st place in Writer/Photographer for Hidden in Plain Sight, The Old Jewish Cemetery on the Lido, one of the many islands of Venice, Italy, with the judge waxing, “I  was transported to a place I have never been before and didn’t know existed,” and an HM for Hidden in Plain Sight: Amsterdam, noting “It is vitally important to document and share the knowledge of these places and histories.”

Rabbi Min Kantrowitz received an HM award in the category of Health for "Tahara: An Encounter" with the judge waxing, “Lovely, Rabbi, just lovely! …I’m so glad you left your comfort zone and had that epiphany."

Michael Wald graced us with the amusing  “Bagels in the Boondocks” awarded HM in Travel, “Interesting article in locating Jewish people and foods in Panama,” relating to his book Why Didn’t You Call: A Peace Corps Exposé.

Frank Morgan won a 3rd Place in Graphics with his sketch “Roaming Hidden Places” to accompany the short mystery story “Perfidious” set in 1920’s New Mexico, receiving a soulful judge’s comment, “Your line work shows great fluidity, capturing the horse’s movement and the rider’s posture.”  

Martin Finston received a 2nd Place in Reviews for Susie Sandager, Author and Actress of Corrie Remembers with an appreciative note from the judge that we need more heroes like her, and “Well written…and wonderful.”

“What an important story” said the judge about Brian Serle’s personality profile, “Rabbi Neil Amswysh, Facing Challenges for Santa Fe’s Jewish Community” HM, with the note that if it were written in narrative rather than Q&A it would have been top contender for 1st place. We agree. 

Neala McCarten gave us a fascinating look at "Exploring Jewish Rome" in Travel, HM, deemed “insightful and informative, well written and fascinating,” 

Carl Montoya shared the informative “Basque Country - Spain Discovering a New Mexico Connection and a 500-Year-Old Agreement With the Jews”, in History, HM, with “research and meaningful experience.” 

Thank you to our writers, and to our readers! We need you all! Spread the word - every reader counts. And, believe it or not, we can't really operate on thin air, as heady as it may be at times, we really need your paid subscriptions, contributions and donations to keep us going here.

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Jewish Community Center of Greater Albuquerque
The Institute for Tolerance Studies
Jewish Federation of El Paso and Las Cruces
Temple Beth Shalom
Congregation B'nai Israel
Shabbat with Friends: Recapturing Together the Joy of Shabbat
New Mexico Jewish Historical Society

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