Police investigating a shooting in Ansonia in December 2021.
DERBY — The Valley Independent Sentinel won six awards in the annual “Excellence In Journalism” contest held by the Connecticut chapter of The Society of Professional Journalists. Click here for a complete list of winners.
The stories were published in 2021. The awards will be given out at an event scheduled to be held at the Ansonia Nature Center’s pavilion on June 25.
The Valley Indy is a nonprofit online newspaper covering Ansonia, Derby and Seymour. It has one full-time reporter/editor, Eugene Driscoll, and one freelance reporter, Jean Falbo-Sosnovich.
The Valley Indy competes in the CT SPJ’s “hyperlocal” division, which includes other online news sites along with small newspapers.
The Valley Indy won the following awards:
Breaking News Coverage
First Place: “Ansonia police investigate shooting; city researching surveillance system” (Eugene Driscoll & Jean Falbo-Sosnovich)
Second Place: “Derby police officer shoots person on Division Street” (Driscoll)
Audio Storytelling
First Place: “Navel Gazing: The Valley Indy Podcast” (The Valley Indy’s post-election autopsy) (Driscoll)
Second Place: “Navel Gazing: The Valley Indy Podcast” (Officials discuss multi-million dollar train station grant) (Driscoll)
Feature Story
First Place: “After 70 years in limbo, Seymour soldier accounted for” (Driscoll)
General Column Writing
First place: “Buy Nothing Facebook groups build connection during trying times” (Jodie Mozdzer Gil)
The Valley Indy has won 40 CT SPJ awards since launching in 2009.
