Newsday photographers, reporter Tory Parrish win 2021 NABJ awards

Newsday journalists won three awards from the National Association of Black Journalists on Saturday, including two for photography and the organization’s President’s Award.

Business reporter Tory N. Parrish took home the prestigious President's Award, which the NABJ hands out annually for outstanding service to the organization. Parrish, a past NABJ board member and past Region 1 director, created a regional mentorship program and served as an in-house editor for board documents among her other roles, said NABJ president Dorothy Tucker.

"Tory, every move you made, every vote you took, you considered what was best for your region and NABJ," Tucker said during the virtual awards ceremony. "I respect and admire you as a journalist and as one of the best board members I have ever had the pleasure of knowing and working with."

Newsday photojournalists also won in the Photography: Multiple Image category for their "Season of Protest" series. The team entry consisted of work from five photographers: Thomas A. Ferrara, Steve Pfost, Charles Eckert, Alejandra Villa Loarca and J. Conrad Williams Jr. It included photos from some of the nearly 200 Black Lives Matter protests Newsday's multimedia team covered across Long Island and New York City in 2020.

Pfost also received the Photojournalism Excellence award in the single image category for his photo "Grief in the Time of COVID." The photo depicts a mother and her two daughters on the steps of their North Babylon home in April 2020 during a drive-by memorial service for her husband, who died of COVID-19 complications.

"Congratulations to our colleague Tory Parrish for being honored with the prestigious President’s Award in recognition of the important contributions she makes through her NABJ work," said Deborah Henley, Newsday editor. "And thank you to the NABJ for honoring the work of our photojournalists for Newsday’s 'Season of Protests' series and for recognizing Steve Pfost for 'Grief in the Time of COVID.' "

Added John Keating, director of multimedia newsgathering for Newsday: "Our dedicated photographers spent long hours covering the COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests. We are honored to have their work on these important stories recognized by the National Association of Black Journalists."

By Vera Chinese

vera.chinese@newsday.com@VeraChinese

Vera Chinese joined Newsday in 2017 after working as an editor for the East End lifestyle publication northforker and a general assignment reporter for the New York Daily News.