Every newsroom produces stories that stand out above the rest. The Publick Occurrences Award is NENPA’s opportunity to recognize those exceptional examples of journalism and photojournalism from across New England.

Editors are invited to enter what they consider their publication’s very best work from the past year—whether it is an individual story, a team project, a series, spot news coverage, a column, or outstanding photojournalism published in print or online between June 1, 2025, and May 31, 2026.

Named for Publick Occurrences, the first newspaper published in America, the award was established in 1990 to mark the 300th anniversary of that historic publication. Although Publick Occurrences was suppressed by the royal governor just four days after it appeared in Boston in 1690, it remains an enduring symbol of journalism’s role in informing the public and serving the common good.

Each year, NENPA presents up to 16 Publick Occurrences Awards to member newspapers. Up to eight awards are presented to daily newspapers, and up to eight are awarded to community weekly and specialty publications.

In addition, all Publick Occurrences entries are automatically considered for the A-Mark Prizes, which offer up to $90,000 in cash awards for outstanding journalism across New England.

If your newsroom produced reporting, commentary, photography, or coverage that represents your finest work of the year, we encourage you to enter.

The competition is open to all NENPA member publications. The entry fee is $125 per submission.

Recipients will be recognized during the Fall Awards Luncheon at NENPA’s Fall Leadership Conference on October 9, 2026, at the historic Publick House Historic Inn in Sturbridge, Massachusetts.

Entry deadline: July 10, 2026.

DOWNLOAD 2026 NEWSPAPER AWARDS GUIDELINES

The New England Newspaper of the Year Award is one of the most distinctive honors in journalism because it is judged not by industry professionals, but by the people newspapers serve every day: readers.

Each year, New England news consumers are appointed to evaluate entries from a reader’s perspective and determine which publications deserve to be recognized as Newspaper of the Year. It is the only competition of its kind in the newspaper industry and provides a unique opportunity to have your work evaluated by the audience that matters most.

Readers assess publications based on a variety of factors, including the quality of reporting and writing, use of photography, design and presentation, digital offerings, overall utility and value, and the publication’s connection to the community it serves. Judges are asked to consider questions such as: Does the newspaper inform, educate, entertain, inspire, motivate, or lead? Does it reflect and care about its community? Does it put readers first? Is it unique or special in some way?

The award recognizes overall excellence rather than a single story or project. It celebrates news organizations that consistently provide strong journalism, serve their audiences well, innovate, and make a meaningful impact in their communities.

Entering is simple. Editors complete the entry form, provide a brief summary, and upload two editions published during the contest year (June 1, 2025 – May 31, 2026). Winners will be recognized in a range of circulation categories.

NENPA member newspapers may enter in five categories:

• Weekday Newspapers
• Sunday Newspapers
• Weekly Community Newspapers
• Specialty Publications
• Online News Sites

After entries are received, publications will be assigned to competitive divisions based on size and category, including small and large weeklies, small and large dailies, Sunday publications, and local and regional news sites.

DOWNLOAD 2026 NEWSPAPER AWARDS GUIDELINES

Recipients of the New England Newspaper of the Year Award will be honored during the Awards Luncheon at NENPA’s Fall Leadership Conference on October 9, 2026, at the Publick House Historic Inn in Sturbridge, Massachusetts.

Be sure to visit the award page and scroll to the bottom to see past winners and the publications that have earned this distinction over the years.

Entry deadline: July 10, 2026.

The New England Newspaper & Press Association will host its 2026 Fall Leadership Conference on Friday, October 9, 2026, at the Publick House Historic Inn in Sturbridge, Massachusetts.

The annual conference brings together publishers, editors, newsroom leaders, journalists, advertising professionals, and media executives from across New England for a day of networking, professional development, industry discussion, and recognition of excellence in journalism.

Save the date for this annual event. Additional conference details, including registration information, programming, speakers, and lodging options, will be announced in the coming months.

A highlight of the conference will be the Fall Awards Luncheon, where NENPA will recognize recipients of its 2026 Fall Awards Program. The awards celebrate outstanding journalism, editorial leadership, investigative reporting, community service, press freedom, journalism education, and contributions to the newspaper industry throughout New England.

Awards presented during the luncheon will include:

• New England Newspaper of the Year
• Publick Occurrences
• Allan B. Rogers Editorial Award
• New England First Amendment Award
• AP Sevellon Brown New England Journalist of the Year
• Bob Wallack Community Journalism Award
• The Cornerstone Award
• New England Journalism Educator of the Year
• A-Mark Prizes

Together, these awards recognize the individuals, news organizations, educators, and industry leaders whose work strengthens local journalism and serves communities throughout the region.

The A-Mark Prizes will once again recognize outstanding investigative and accountability reporting and offer up to $90,000 in cash awards. Entries submitted for the Publick Occurrences Award and New England First Amendment Award are automatically considered for the A-Mark Prizes.

The Publick House Historic Inn, founded in 1771, provides a fitting setting for a gathering focused on the future of local journalism while honoring the profession’s rich history. Located in the heart of Sturbridge, the inn has welcomed generations of travelers and remains one of New England’s most iconic historic destinations.

The 2026 Fall Awards Program is currently open for entries, with a submission deadline of July 10, 2026.

Additional information, eligibility requirements, nomination guidelines, and entry forms are available at the link below:

DOWNLOAD 2026 NEWSPAPER AWARDS GUIDELINES

We encourage member news organizations, journalism educators, and industry leaders to take this opportunity to recognize outstanding work from the past year and celebrate the people helping shape the future of journalism in New England.

Interested in sponsoring the event? Contact Tara Cleary at t.cleary@nenpa.com or (617) 520-4585 to reserve your sponsorship and answer any questions.

Schedule a meeting to discuss our sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities.

The New England Newspaper & Press Association is now accepting entries and nominations for its 2026 Fall Awards Program, recognizing excellence in journalism, editorial leadership, investigative reporting, community service, First Amendment advocacy, journalism education, and overall newsroom impact across New England.

The annual program celebrates the individuals, news organizations, and educators whose work strengthens local journalism and serves communities throughout the region. Awards recognize achievement in reporting, opinion writing, public service, press freedom, community engagement, and newsroom leadership.

The 2026 Fall Awards Program includes:

• New England Newspaper of the Year
• Publick Occurrences
• Allan B. Rogers Editorial Award
• New England First Amendment Award
• AP Sevellon Brown New England Journalist of the Year
• Bob Wallack Community Journalism Award
• The Cornerstone Award
• New England Journalism Educator of the Year
• A-Mark Prizes

Together, these awards highlight the exceptional work being done by journalists, publishers, educators, and news organizations across New England while recognizing the vital role local journalism plays in informing and strengthening communities.

The entry deadline for all awards is Friday, July 10, 2026.

Additional information, eligibility requirements, nomination guidelines, and entry forms are available at the link below:

DOWNLOAD 2026 NEWSPAPER AWARDS GUIDELINES

We encourage member news organizations, journalism educators, and industry leaders to take this opportunity to recognize outstanding work from the past year and celebrate the people helping shape the future of journalism in New England.

Tucked above the General Store in the center of Harvard, Massachusetts, The Harvard Press operates from the literal heart of the community it covers.

Founded in 2006 after the decline and eventual closure of the town’s former newspaper, the independently owned weekly was created by residents determined to preserve strong local journalism in Harvard.

Today, nearly two decades later, the paper remains deeply woven into community life — covering local government, schools, development, and civic issues while building unusually strong reader support and engagement. At the 2020 Town Meeting, during the height of the pandemic, the paper was named “2019 Citizen of Note.” The award is given each year by the Select Board to an outstanding Harvard citizen or organization.

The support by the community extends beyond subscriptions. The newspaper currently operates rent-free from the third floor of the General Store thanks to the generosity of the building’s owners, a reflection of how strongly the community values the paper’s presence in town.

During NENPA’s visit, one theme emerged repeatedly: The Harvard Press is not simply producing a newspaper — it is actively sustaining civic life in the community it serves.

📊 Snapshot

Founded: 2006
Location: Harvard, Massachusetts
Publication Type: Weekly community newspaper
Coverage Area: Harvard and surrounding regional issues impacting the town
Ownership Model: Independent / locally operated
Distribution: Paid subscription model reaching roughly two-thirds of local households
Editorial Focus: Hyperlocal news, town government, schools, features, community life, photography
Staff Structure: Small core staff supported by freelancers, hourly contributors, and community reporters

✍️ Editorial Approach

“We have three priorities,” Editor John Osborn explained during NENPA’s visit. “First is covering the news. Second is community building. Third is training.”

Approximately 99% of the paper’s coverage is focused specifically on Harvard itself. The newsroom intentionally avoids national coverage and only reports on regional or state issues when they directly affect the community.

Town meeting coverage remains one of the publication’s signature strengths.

Each year, The Harvard Press publishes detailed “warrant in plain English” explainers that translate complicated municipal language into accessible reporting residents can actually understand before voting.

“People come to the meeting with our paper,” Osborn said. “If they forgot it, they’ll ask for another copy so they can sit there and read the paper while they’re voting.”

The newsroom also works intentionally to balance hard news with features, photography, and community storytelling in every issue.

✅ What’s Working

Several strategies are helping The Harvard Press maintain strong community trust and support:

• Hyperlocal reporting focused almost entirely on Harvard
• Deep town meeting and civic coverage
• Strong photography and feature storytelling
• Community engagement events and reader surveys
• A highly successful sustaining subscriber program
• Community contributor and citizen journalist training
• Consistent weekly editorial planning and workflow systems

The newsroom also noted that readers consistently expressed strong trust in the publication during a recent audience survey that generated more than 200 responses.

“People really, really trust us and value us,” shared co-owner Sue Robbins.

💰 Revenue Model

The Harvard Press currently operates with revenue split roughly between advertising and circulation, supplemented by donations and fundraising initiatives.

One of the paper’s most successful efforts has been its sustaining subscriber program, where readers voluntarily pay approximately double the standard subscription rate to provide additional support for the newspaper.

“We have 400 sustaining subscribers,” explained Lisa Aciukewicz, publisher and co-owner. “We are so supported by this town.”

The newsroom also accepts donations through nonprofit partnership arrangements and recently joined the Report for America Accelerator program to help explore long-term sustainability strategies.

Online advertising is intentionally limited to local businesses in order to preserve the paper’s intensely local identity and reader experience.

“I think we realize the strength of our product is tied to how local we keep it,” Aciukewicz explained.

🤝 Community Engagement

Community engagement is deeply integrated into the newsroom’s culture.

The Harvard Press regularly:

• Co-sponsors election forums with the League of Women Voters
• Hosts “Coffee with the Editor” conversations
• Encourages reader letters and feedback
• Started conducting audience surveys in 2025
• Maintains a community advisory board
• Recruits and trains new contributors from within the community

Earlier this year, the newsroom launched a large recruitment campaign using postcards, banners, and community outreach to attract new contributors.

The effort brought approximately 30 residents to an initial information session.

“We got like 30 people at that first meeting,” Osborn recalled. “And then we whittle it down and train them.”

⚙️ Operations & Workflow

Despite its small size, the newsroom operates with highly structured systems and routines.

Every Thursday morning after the paper goes to print, staff gather for editorial and newsroom planning meetings to organize the next issue.

A shared Google Sheet tracks:

• Story assignments
• Photos
• Ad volume
• Deadlines
• Page budgets
• Production status

“We couldn’t do it without ‘the spreadsheet’,” joked managing editor, Valerie Hurley.

🎓 Training & Community Contributors

Training has become one of the newsroom’s defining priorities.

Because the paper operates with a small staff, The Harvard Press has built an internal pipeline for training community reporters and contributors.

Osborn has led workshops teaching residents how to interview, report, and write stories, while the newsroom has also worked extensively with local students interested in journalism.

Several former student participants have gone on to careers at major news organizations, including The Boston Globe and The New York Times.

The newsroom also developed programs like “Report for Harvard,” which paired local students with community members to produce stories highlighting unsung contributors throughout town.

⚠️ Challenges

Like many local news organizations, The Harvard Press faces ongoing sustainability and staffing challenges.

Leadership spoke candidly about:

• Retaining younger journalists
• Aging newsroom leadership
• Limited financial resources
• The difficulty of balancing journalism with personal financial realities
• The broader economics of local news

“It’s that broken economics of local journalism,” Aciukewicz said. “Somebody’s got to solve it.”

Staff also noted that many contributors dedicate far more time and energy to the paper than their compensation reflects.

🔍 What They’re Exploring

Current areas of experimentation and growth include:

• A major website redesign that will eventually introduce a paywall, digital subscriptions, and more frequent online updates.
• Expanded fundraising and nonprofit partnerships
• Report for America Accelerator participation
• Additional community contributor training
• Potential newsletter development
• More frequent digital publishing workflows

Leadership hopes these efforts will help strengthen long-term sustainability while maintaining the publication’s local focus and identity.

💡 Advice & Opportunities for Other Newsrooms

The Harvard Press shared several strategies other community newspapers may want to explore:

Sustaining Subscriber Programs

The newsroom strongly recommends offering readers an option to financially support local journalism beyond standard subscription pricing.

“If you’re not doing that, that is the lowest hanging fruit,” Aciukewicz said.

Town Meeting Coverage

The paper mails expanded town meeting coverage to every household — including non-subscribers — helping drive civic engagement, subscriptions, and advertising revenue.

Community Training

Building pipelines for local contributors and citizen journalists can help small newsrooms expand coverage while strengthening community ties.

Reader Surveys

The newsroom found audience surveys extremely valuable for understanding reader priorities and building trust.

🏆 NENPA Recognition

The Harvard Press’s commitment to local journalism was recognized in the 2025 New England Better Newspaper Competition, where the newsroom earned multiple awards across opinion writing, public service reporting, photography, and overall excellence.

The paper received First Place for General Excellence, one of the competition’s highest honors, recognizing the overall quality of the publication. The newsroom also earned First Place for Invisible Hunger: How Loaves & Fishes is Feeding Families in Need by Julie Gowel and First Place for Heidi Gomez’s commentary, Dissed-abled: Wheelchair Users Need Equality of Access and Opportunity, which judges praised as “a real public service.”

Coverage of the closure of Nashoba Valley Medical Center earned Second Place, with judges noting the series documented not only the loss of a community hospital but the broader impact on residents, emergency services, and regional health care access. The paper also received Second Place for Jen Manell’s photograph Booksale.

For the staff, awards serve as more than recognition—they validate the work of a small newsroom committed to serving its community.

For the staff, the recognition serves as both validation and motivation.

“We can’t pay people what larger organizations can,” Aciukewicz explained. “So for them to win an award is huge.”

The awards also reinforce community trust and credibility within the town.

⭐ Best Quote

“We have three priorities: covering the news, community building, and training.”
— John Osborn, Editor, The Harvard Press

The Boston Globe is now administering the annual Will McDonough Sports Writing Contest, a long-running New England competition previously managed by The Sports Museum for more than 20 years. The contest is free to enter and open to high school students in grades 9–12 throughout New England.

Students are invited to submit one original piece of sports writing. Entries will be judged on writing quality, reporting, use of journalism principles, and the ability to engage readers with sports as a central element of the story.

To participate, a parent or guardian (18+) must first complete the required information form before students email their submission.

The deadline to enter is May 27, 2026. Winners will be announced on June 9, 2026.

• Have an adult (18+) fill out this info form HERE
• Email their entry to McDonoughcontest@globe.com (One entry per person)

The New England Newspaper & Press Association has officially launched its new Freelancer Network, a developing initiative designed to help connect NENPA member publishers with freelance journalists, writers, photographers, designers, and other newsroom professionals across New England.

The project was created in response to ongoing staffing challenges, changing newsroom needs, and growing interest from freelance journalists looking to build stronger relationships with local and regional news organizations. Over the past several weeks, freelancers from across the region have submitted information through NENPA’s intake form, creating an internal database that includes reporting specialties, geographic coverage areas, experience levels, and work samples.

NENPA member publishers can now begin submitting freelancer requests directly to the association. Publishers can request recommendations based on specific newsroom needs, including coverage areas, beats, content production, photography, design, audience engagement, copy editing, and other freelance support.

Rather than operating as a public directory, the service is designed as a managed matching network. NENPA staff will review requests and provide curated freelancer recommendations based on the needs of each publication.

The initiative is intended to support both immediate assignment needs and longer-term newsroom relationships, while also helping freelance journalists gain greater visibility within New England’s local news ecosystem.

Freelancers interested in joining the network can still complete the intake form, and publishers are encouraged to reach out as staffing or project needs arise.

The New England Newspaper & Press Association (NENPA) will officially launch the NENPA Freelancer Network on May 15 as a new member benefit designed to help connect freelance journalists with publishers and news organizations across New England.

The NENPA Freelancer Network is being developed as a centralized freelancer database that will allow NENPA to help facilitate connections between member news organizations and freelance journalists seeking paid assignments, ongoing newsroom relationships, and opportunities to expand the reach of their work.

Freelance journalists, independent writers, photographers, newsletter creators, and other newsroom professionals are encouraged to complete the NENPA Freelancer Intake Form ahead of the launch. The intake form gathers information about coverage areas, experience, availability, formats, rates, and assignment interests to help NENPA make informed matches between freelancers and participating news organizations.

The network is intended to support a wide range of newsroom needs, including reporting, photography, newsletter support, feature writing, investigative projects, and other editorial work. Freelancers who complete the intake form may be contacted by editors, publishers, or hiring managers from participating news organizations across the region.

NENPA is also continuing to gather input from publishers and newsroom leaders about current coverage needs, staffing gaps, and areas where freelance support may be beneficial.

The intake form also includes optional questions related to a potential shared publishing model that could help freelancers distribute recurring content, columns, newsletters, and other work across multiple news organizations.

While NENPA will work to facilitate meaningful connections between freelancers and publishers, participation in the network does not guarantee assignments or employment opportunities.

Freelancers can complete the Freelancer Intake Form here: https://forms.gle/jZ6qBAHEHucyS9uT6

Publishers can share newsroom needs here: https://forms.gle/ob2xXDhsdHd6Spqh7