Gondolier again named state's best community newspaper

VENICE – The Venice Gondolier has once again been named the best community newspaper in the state by the Florida Press Association.

The announcement came Friday at the FPA’s state convention in Orlando.

The newspaper has earned the top honor for 20 of the past 24 years.

The Venice Gondolier was given the title after amassing the most finalists across 50 categories.

The Venice Gondolier also won the General Excellence category for the third year in a row.

In that category, the contest judges choose three dates at random and have participants enter their newspapers from those dates. The judges then compare the newspapers and choose the best.

“This entry checked all of the boxes for me,” one of the judges wrote. “I like the page design. Good use of photos and well-written stories made for a strong editorial package …. I believe readers in this community are well served by this paper. “

Venice Gondolier Senior Writer Bob Mudge led the way in the state contest, as he has done every year for more than a decade. He took both first and second place in the “Editorial Writing” category and first place in “Hurricane Coverage – General News Story.”

Mudge also took first place in “Humorous Column” for his musings about turning 65 years old.

Our Town Editor Emeritus Kim Cool, who has placed in the contest nearly every year for more than a decade, kept her streak going by finishing in third place in “Public Service” for her many stories on Venice Theatre’s ongoing efforts to raise money after Hurricane Ian damage.

In a first for the Venice Gondolier in more than a decade, the newspaper won the “Page Design” category for work by designer Gabby Mendoza. Another Gondolier designer, Sunsearay McDaniel, took second place in the same category.

Venice Gondolier Sports Editor Evan Lepak took first place in the “Sports Feature Story” category, as well as second place in the “Sports Page or Section” category.

Also placing in the contest was local photographer Justin Fennell, who earned second and third place in the "Sports Photo" category, as well as third place in the "Spot News" and "Portfolio Photography" categories.

He has placed in the contest every year for more than a decade.

The newspaper also had members of the community place in categories for work they submitted to the Venice Gondolier.

Photographer Lisa Harris won the “Reader-Generated Photo” category for her spooky photograph of “witches” gathering on the beach.

In the same category, Venice resident Alan Poszywak took third place for his photo of firefighters battling the Bay Indies clubhouse fire in the early hours of the morning.

And another Venice resident, Steven Casey, took third place in the “Original Local Editorial Cartoon” category.

Ronald Dupont Jr., the Venice Gondolier’s editor, praised the work of the local journalists.

“This is very much a team effort,” he said. “Numerous writers, photographers and design artists, as well as freelancers from the community, help make this a phenomenal newspaper.”