Yankee Quill

For more than 50 years the New England Academy of Journalists has been honoring our region’s most extraordinary journalists for their contributions to a free press and their efforts to improve the communities they serve. Other journalism associations bestow awards for individual and team accomplishments, but the Yankee Quill recognizes the lifetime achievement of those who have had a broad influence for good, both inside and outside the newsroom. The Academy, which is comprised of all Quill winners and representatives of various New England journalism organizations, gathers annually under the auspices of the New England Society of News Editors Foundation to select the honorees. Winners are selected from among nominees that represent newspapers, broadcasting and academia.

Allan B. Rogers Editorial Award

This award recognizes the best editorial of the year in New England, and it honors the former editor of The Eagle-Tribune (North Andover, MA) who died in 1964 at the age of 31. The competition attracts local-subject editorials from a wide variety of newspapers in New England, regardless of circulation size and frequency of publication.

New England First Amendment Award

This award honors the association’s record of leadership on First Amendment issues. The award is presented to a New England newspaper for the exceptional quality of its reporting, editorials, commentary or legal challenges that illuminate or uphold the First Amendment or educate the public about it.

Publick Occurrences Award

This award recognizes the very best work that New England newspapers produce each year— whether it’s individual or team stories, series, spot news coverage, columns or photojournalism that ran in print and/or online. NENPA presents up to 16 Publick Occurrences awards to member newspapers annually.

The award was established in 1990 to recognize individual and team merit at New England newspapers to mark the 300th anniversary of the founding of Publick Occurrences, the first newspaper published in America. Four days after it appeared in Boston in 1690, Publick Occurrences was suppressed by the royal governor.

Bob Wallack Journalism Award

This special award, which is named in honor of longtime New England journalist and former New England Press Association Executive Director Bob Wallack, recognizes an individual who has an exceptional record of commitment to community journalism. This award celebrates the accomplishments of someone who, over a sustained period of time, has faithfully served the community for which they are responsible and has played an active, constructive role in contributing to its quality of life. Anyone may nominate a colleague, co-worker, subordinate, superior, mentor, retiree, etc., who works or worked in our six-state region and truly exemplifies the ideal of a community journalist, just as Bob Wallack did.

AP Sevellon Brown Journalist of the Year

This award is bestowed by the New England Society of News Editors, and it recognizes an individual for producing journalism of distinction in New England this past year. The award is named in honor of Sevellon Brown, the late editor and publisher of The Providence Journal-Bulletin, founder of the American Press Institute, fellow of the Academy of New England Journalists, and past president and founder of New England Associated Press News Editors Association (NEAPNEA).

The competition is open to New England journalists of any kind; whether working for a daily, weekly or specialty print publication, broadcast outlet or online media.

Journalism Educator of the Year

NENPA presented the New England Journalism Educator of the Year award to recognize a professor at a university or college in the six-state region who is doing outstanding work to prepare journalists to lead our newspaper organizations into the future. Each college in New England is entitled to submit one nomination for the Journalism Educator of the Year award.