Constructing strong relationships, both in the newsroom and with the local community, is the key to success in journalism, according to awards recipients at the New England Society of News Editors’ Journalism Awards Celebration. That kind of collaboration and gratitude for the award recognition were recurring themes in acceptance speeches as five journalists received key individual awards among a total of more than 20 honors doled out during the ceremony.

“Learn from each other and lean on one another,” said Karen Webber, recipient of the Judith Vance Weld Brown Spirit of Journalism Award. “As much as writing and reporting and photography is an individual accomplishment, putting it all together in a trusted, balanced report is a team sport, and, not to mention, it’s more fun that way.”

Webber was honored along with other journalists and college students and student newspapers at the New England Newspaper and Press Association headquarters in Dedham, Mass., Thursday, April 20, in a ceremony attended by about 70 people.

The following received the five key individual awards:

New England Journalism Educator of Year

Barbara Roche

Roche, a journalism professor at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, was praised for her dedication to progress and innovation. She teaches courses that include Introduction to Multimedia Reporting, Entrepreneurial Journalism and Journalism Launchpad.

She has also has been a columnist at The Boston Globe, the Cape Cod Times of Hyannis, Mass., and other publications in New England.

“The fact that this (award) is coming from newspaper people just really means a lot to me,” Roche said in her acceptance speech. “There’s just no journalism like local journalism.”

Master Photographer, nondaily publication

Shannon Hicks

Hicks, a self-taught photographer, has been at The Newtown (Conn.) Bee for 28 years and is now associate editor there. The Bee’s editor, Nancy Crevier, described Hicks as discerning and particular.

“Her patience allows her to find the best — not always the first — photograph to capture a moment,” Cervier said.

Cervier also mentioned Hicks’ desire to help others in the newsroom, from interns to longtime employees.

“She is always striving to provide our paper with photos that enhance the pages, and she is always willing to share what she has learned about photography with everybody else on the staff,” Cervier said.

Master Photographer, daily publication

Mike Orazzi

Orazzi is chief photographer at The Bristol (Conn.) Press and has been with the Press for more than 20 years. Michael E. Schroeder, editor and publisher of the Press, said Orazzi has a great eye for news photography, as well as a creative eye for features.

“We, at the paper, know that when he goes out on assignment, he’s going to get the picture,” Schroeder said. “He has a wonderful relationship with the community.”

Schroeder, who accepted the award on the absent Orazzi’s behalf, said Orazzi’s work reflects the goals of the Press.

“He takes pictures that go along with our mission, which is to have a positive impact on our community,” Schroeder said.

Master Reporter

Jennette Barnes

Barnes, a reporter at The Standard-Times of New Bedford, Mass., spent time as editorial page editor there before returning to her job as a reporter. Beth Perdue, editor of the Standard-Times, said Barnes’s return to reporting stemmed from her passion for storytelling.

“She is an individual who just holds herself to a standard that is really high, particularly in today’s world of just moving so fast and getting story after story after story thrown at you,” Perdue said. “No matter what we throw at her, she is committed to telling the full story and getting the complete truth in a way that is factual while really capturing the spirit of the story, as well.”

In her acceptance speech, Barnes commended the journalism industry for its dedication to recognizing successful journalists.

“A lot of other fields don’t recognize good work the way we do,” she said. “So, even in this climate that we’re in — our business has changed so much — I really want to thank everybody for still keeping up with these awards of recognition. Not every field does that.”

Judith Vance Weld Brown Spirit of Journalism Award

Karen Webber

Webber, executive editor of the Telegram & Gazette of Worcester, Mass., received the award that honors the accomplishments of an outstanding female journalist in New England. Under her leadership, the Telegram & Gazette has won a number of honors, including New England Newspaper of the Year for the Sunday Telegram, Best Overall Website and Best Niche Publication for Worcester Living magazine, all from the New England Newspaper and Press Association.

Leah Lamson, former editor of the Telegram & Gazette, lauded Webber’s calm, capable demeanor and steady leadership, saying she is respected by her staff, her peers and the public.

In her acceptance speech, Webber pointed to women’s dedication to finding success in the newspaper industry during the past century.

“By the time I started at the T&G in 1982, things were much improved,” she said. “I was hired by a woman, and over the years, I’ve had fantastic female bosses and colleagues. I believe, for the most part, the playing field has been leveled. In fact, when I think of myself as a journalist, I don’t think of myself as a woman journalist — I think of myself as a journalist.”

She also spoke about journalism as a gratifying field, despite the many challenges of the business.

“All journalists, male and female, are challenged daily by fake news and by people who don’t have the time or the desire or the savvy to separate fact from fiction. It’s a time when many readers distrust the media, but, thankfully, for every angry email or voicemail that I get saying, ‘Shame on you,’ I also get another email saying, ‘Keep up the good work. We need you’,” she said

At the end of her speech, Webber gave advice to the college-aged journalists in the crowd.

“Keep up the hard work of journalism,” she said. “Be accurate and truthful. Verify your facts. Identify you sources. Be fair and be objective. Give context to your reporting. Be tough, but have a heart, too.”

The following other award winners were honored at the event:

College Rising Star

Amy McKeever, Stonehill College

College Top Journalist

Kelsey Bode, St. Michael’s College

New England College Newspaper of the Year

The Harvard Crimson, Harvard University
The Bowdoin Orient, Bowdoin College, first runner-up
The Free Press, Boston University, second runner-up
Castleton Spartan, Castleton University, third runner-up

The NESNEs awards

Best Opinion or Commentary Writing

Winner: John Breunig, The Advocate, Stamford, Conn., for
“A shield of words vs. rain of bullets”

Finalists:
Martha Ball, The Block Island (R.I.) Times, for “Breath of the Sea”
Marc Dion, The Herald News, Fall River, Mass., for “Jasiel the giver… of our money.”
Staff, The Providence (R.I.) Journal, for “A fraud, a farce, a dog-and-pony show”
Ron Chimelis, The Republican, Springfield, Mass., for “Put yourself in Granby cop’s shoes”

Best Hard News/General Reporting Story

Winner: Mackenzie Rigg, The News-Times, Danbury, Conn., for
“A Connecticut Doctor in Africa”

Finalists:
Staff, Taunton (Mass.) Daily Gazette, for “Search for Answers”
Josh Kovner, The Hartford (Conn.) Courant, for “Left in Limbo”
Staff, Republican-American, Waterbury, Conn., for “District voting gets tested”
Stephanie Barry, The Republican, Springfield, Mass., for “Inside the Mob”

Best Feature Story

Winner: Robert Kiener, Stowe (Vt.) Guide & Magazine, for “Bill Lee”

Finalists:
Steve Barlow, Republican-American, Waterbury, Conn., for “The Flood of 1955”
Mark Davis, Seven Days, Burlington, Vt., for “Right in Rutland”
Lisa Spear, The Recorder, Greenfield, Mass., for “Final lullaby”
Cyndi Wood, The Ellsworth (Maine) American., for “Alex Robbins, age 3, loses his battle with heart disease”

Best Enterprise/Long-Form Reporting Story

Winner: Staff, Cape Cod Times, Hyannis, Mass., for
“Special Report: Climate Change Hits Home”

Finalists:
Alex Elvin, Vineyard Gazette, Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., for “Coastal Ponds Balancing People and the Environment”
Jeannette Hinkle, Ipswich (Mass.) Chronicle, for “The green crab threat”
Tom Relihan, The Recorder, Greenfield, Mass., for “Charter Schools Day 1”
Izaskun Larraneta, Lisa McGinley and Tess Townsend, The Day, New London, Conn., for “I-95 Deadly, Overcrowded”

Best Watchdog or Neighborhood Reporting Story

Winner: Patrick Ronan and Hongyi Gong, The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, Mass., for
“Culture Shift in Quincy”

Finalists:
Lindsay Tice, Sun Journal, Lewiston, Maine, for “New Attitude”
K.C. Myers, Cape Cod Times, Hyannis, Mass., for “Path to Recovery”
Matthew Kauffman and Jenna Carlesso. The Hartford (Conn.) Courant, for “Hartford Soccer Stadium”
Douglas Moser, The Eagle-Tribune, North Andover, Mass., for “Is This Full Time?”

Best News Photo

Winner: Jack Foley, The Herald News, Fall River, Mass., for “Ledge”

Finalists:
Glenn Russell, The Burlington (Vt.) Free Press, for “Speed dating with Trump and Sanders”
Steven King, Worcester (Mass.) Magazine, “Comfort”
Steven King, Tom Matthews and Erika Sidor, Worcester (Mass.) Magazine, for
“Officer Ronald Tarentino Jr., End of Shift: May 22, 2017”
Robin Chan, The Hingham (Mass.) Journal, for “Unidentified girl holds a candle in memory of Cpl. Orlando”

Best Sports / Feature Photo

Winner: Robin Chan, Scituate (Mass.) Mariner, for
“Steven Litchfield checks the time of the tower”

Finalists:
Robin Chan, Marshfield (Mass.) Mariner, for “It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Maria!”
Peter Pereira, The Standard-Times, New Bedford, Mass., for “Forbidden Seas”
John Love, Sentinel & Enterprise, Fitchburg, Mass., for “Fitchburg State men’s soccer players attack their opponent’s net”
Trent Campbell, Addison County Independent, Middlebury, Vt., for
“Brooke Tupper throws herself into the girls’ 16-year-old arm wrestling competition”

Best Video

Winner: Adam Silverman and Philip Tortora, The Burlington (Vt.) Free Press, for
“The Shooting of Phil Grenon”

Finalists:
Robin Chan, The Hingham (Mass.) Journal, for “Blossoming into One’s Own”
Peter Huoppi, The Day, New London, Conn., for “Bob Crelin wants you to see the stars”
Eva Sollberger, Seven Days, Burlington, Vt., for “Stuck In Vermont: Trumpnado Hits Burlington”
Ryan Mercer, The Burlington (Vt.) Free Press, for “Volunteers run their own race at Vermont City Marathon”

Best Digital Innovation

Winner: Staff, Cape Cod Times, Hyannis, Mass., for
“Life on the Edge: How Climate Change Affects Cape Cod”

Finalists:
Peter Huoppi, Casey O’Neill, Keith O’Brien and Mike DiMauro, The Day, New London, Conn., for “Casey and The Sports Doctor”
Staff, Vineyard Gazette, Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., for “Bakers experiment with ancient grains”

Best in Sports

Winner: Joel M. Lehman, St. Albans (Vt.) Messenger, for “Flight and Family”

Finalists:
Matthew Kauffman and Tom Yantz, The Hartford (Conn.) Courant, for “Inquiry Alleges Coach Cheated”
Taylor Vortherms, The Ellsworth (Maine) American, for
“Invisible, incapacitating concussions are sidelining high school athletes”

Brett Nichols had hit rock bottom. After growing up in an abusive home and dealing with drug addiction, he found himself locked up in prison, and eventually sent to solitary confinement. That’s when he decided to make a change.

“When I got locked up, I said to myself, ‘You’ve got to be out of your mind that you were going to throw it all away,’” he said. “I got on my knees, I said, ‘God, I can’t do this. I don’t want to do this anymore’ … The only thing that I wanted was for God to take that beast out of me that kept self-destructing. I had that epiphany, that moment where my whole life flashed in front of me.”

With passion and emotion in his voice at the New England Society of News Editors Journalism Awards Celebration Thursday, April 20, at the New England Newspaper and Press Association headquarters in Dedham, Mass., Nichols told the story of his path to redemption, preaching the importance of persistence in the face of adversity.

“It’s never too late,” he said. “Don’t ever give up, because someone’s always got it worse than you, and someone’s always got it worse than me. Take care of what you’ve got to take care of. There are going to be good days, and bad days, but if you can balance everything out, that wheel rolls.”

Nichols, now a motivational speaker and co-author of the recently released book “Stretched Thin,” told the audience of about 70 people that he was raised by an abusive father and eventually turned to selling drugs on the streets as a teenager.

“To the crowd of people I was hanging with, drugs were cool,” he said. “If you had it, you were the man. Well, I made it a point to make sure I always had it. I, unfortunately, built my life around drugs. Every move I made, every thought I had, had something to do with it because it was money to me. It was validation to me, but, unfortunately, it was validation to people that didn’t really mean anything to me, and I meant nothing to them.”

Those toxic relationships were what caused his life to go downhill, Nichols said. He would go on to spend 17 years in prison for an attempted bank robbery.

“There’s so many things that life throws our way,” he said. “If you’re not equipped to deal — I’ll speak for myself. I failed. You start failing.”

After a few years in prison, Nichols began to see his relationships crumble. His relationship with his girlfriend ended, which caused Nichols the most pain.

“I will tell you that I loved that girl more than myself, especially at that time because I was in a dark place,” he said. “To lose that person is one thing, but to lose them in (prison) — nothing you can do.”

Nichols did his best to change his ways. He began taking classes and worked hard to get good grades. But temptation proved to be too strong, and during a Super Bowl party held by the inmates in 2011, Nichols took drugs and was sentenced to solitary confinement as a result.

“To be honest with you, I didn’t learn my lesson because I never knew anything other than chaos in my life,” he said. “All the good things that came in my life — they were just a shadow.”

That epiphany he experienced while in solitary confinement was enough motivation for him — he was released shortly after it.

Nichols said that once he was released, he rekindled the relationship with his former girlfriend, and he was able to make amends with his father.

He used those examples as a lesson for the audience. He encouraged the audience members to cherish close relationships and not to take for granted the people they care about.

“When you find that someone, everything is worth it,” he said. “Everything is worth it. Every struggle is worth it.”

Nichols ended his speech acknowledging the positive outlook he now has on life.

“Not all stories have a happy ending, or a good beginning — I know mine wasn’t,” he said. “But I know the ending — it’ll be better than the way it started. That happy ending is in the making.”