HOUSTON – Insight News won two awards at the 2016 National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) Merit Awards held June 24 in Houston.
Insight was awarded first place in the category of Community Service – the Carl Murphy Community Service Award – for its Insight2Health Challenge and third place in the category of Best Use of Photographs, Broadsheet – the W.A. Scott, II Award – for its photography and layout in the Nov. 30 – Dec. 6, 2015 edition. That photography was specific to the protests and Minneapolis Police Department Fourth Precinct occupation that occurred following the police killing of Jamar Clark, an unarmed African-American.
The Insight2Health Challenge is a broad-based initiative designed to promote healthy eating and exercise in the Black community. The challenge, which along the way chronicled the weight loss journey of Insight founder and editor-in-chief, Al McFarlane, invites varying members of the community to commit to a healthy lifestyle, achieving individual milestones along the way. Participants range in age, ability and background. Thus far, 138 people have participated in the challenge and have lost nearly 600 pounds total.
The Insight2Health challenge is in partnership with personal trainer Tyrone Minor and his company The F.I.T. Lab, the Mayo Clinic, NorthPoint Health and Wellness, Open Cities Health Center and Southside Community Health Services, Inc. and was sponsored by Target, UCare, Medica and Allina Health.
Awarded photographs for the Nov. 30 – Dec. 6 edition of Insight were taken by reporter and photographer Harry Colbert, Jr. – now managing editor – during a week-long period of protests and unrest in North Minneapolis following the killing of 24-year-old Clark, who was shot and killed just two blocks from the Fourth Precinct police station on Plymouth Avenue North. The photos featured overnight shots of protesters camped outside the police station, a group of marchers locked arm-in-arm led by Black Lives Matter’s Mica Grimm and NAACP president, Nekima Levy-Pounds and that included Clark’s father and the street signs at the intersection of North 14th Avenue and North Morgan Avenue – the site where five protesters were shot by white agitators. In addition to the photographs being honored, so too was the layout of Ben Williams, senior content and production coordinator and Patricia Weaver, director of content and production.
“We reach 100,000 people a week and our job as a community newspaper is to inform, but also to be a resource and advocate and I think being recognized by the NNPA says we are fulfilling our obligation to the community,” said Insight founder and editor-in-chief, Al McFarlane.
McFarlane takes extra pride in the award presented for the Insight2Health Challenge.
“The fitness challenge was personal for me,” said McFarlane. “Tyrone Minor and I got together and we talked about the need for Black people to live longer and live with an improved quality of life. This is about an ongoing shift; about all of us committing to lifestyle changes.”
McFarlane said he is excited to roll out the next phase of the Insight2Health Challenge this coming September.
Insight’s publisher said the awards are testament to great staff with a shared vision of community engagement.
“We have always been fortunate to have wonderful and talented people working on the Insight News/McFarlane Media team. Because of their hard work, we remain a trusted media source. So, it’s a proud moment for all of us when, as a group and as individuals, we are recognized by our peers for producing stellar work,” said Insight publisher Batala McFarlane. “This further strengthens our resolve to best inform our community while creating meaningful partnerships that empower us all.”
Colbert said the award for his photography is extremely humbling.
“I always considered myself a writer first, but I have come to learn to use all tools at my disposal to present the best possible story,” said Colbert. “I’ve come to appreciate what my lens captures … pieces to the story that the pen can’t adequately convey.”
Truly honored, Colbert said he wishes the circumstances surrounding his award-winning photography were different.
“Those pictures don’t happen if a young man didn’t lose his life … if another five weren’t shot; exercising their right to freely assemble,” said Colbert. “So I’m honored to be recognized, but the biggest honor will come when issues such as this no longer dominate our landscape.”
The St. Louis American was the night’s big winner, walking away with eight awards, including Best Black Newspaper and Publisher of the Year, which went to its publisher, Dr. Donald Suggs. Other papers that received multiple honors were the Houston Forward Times, Houston Defender, Indianapolis Recorder, Philadelphia Tribune, Winston-Salem Chronicle, and The Final Call.
