Staffers earn
press awards

The Northeast Times earned two reporting awards, and a sister paper, Star/Home News publications, received a photography award in the statewide Keystone Press Awards contest sponsored by the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association.
The weekly-division awards went to Times staff writer Diane Villano-Prokop; former Times sports editor Joe Mason; and photographer Matt Godfrey, a staffer with Star/Home News publications.
Villano-Prokop, a reporter with the Times since November 2005, earned second place in the special projects category for a six-part series that examined Frankford’s ongoing quest for neighborhood revitalization, a business rebirth and safer streets.
The in-depth project explored the forces that, over several decades, have brought difficult times to Frankford, as well as the strategies being undertaken to restore the neighborhood’s fortunes.
Mason, who was Times sports editor for two years, won a first-place award in a sports feature category. He produced a story that probed the factors that have made the Pioneers of Frankford High School a wrestling powerhouse in the Philadelphia Public League for the past decade. Mason is now a staffer with the Burlington County Times.
Photographer Godfrey joined the Star/Home News last August, having previously worked for the Philadelphia Bulletin.
His winning entry in sports photography — a photo of a North Catholic football player on his way to a touchdown, amid cheering fans and teammates — was selected for a second-place award. ••