DNAinfo.com New York Wins Silurians Awards for Hurricane Sandy, Stop and Frisk Coverage

NEW YORK, May 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- DNAinfo.com New York, NYC's leading neighborhood news source, congratulates its reporting team for winning a 2013 Silurians Excellence in Journalism Award for Hurricane Sandy coverage in the online breaking news category.  In addition, Criminal Justice Editor Murray Weiss won a Silurians merit award for his coverage of the New York Police Department's stop and frisk tactic.

"Our reporting team worked tirelessly during Hurricane Sandy, publishing dozens of stories that helped New Yorkers find shelter, food and relief," said Michael P. Ventura, managing editor, DNAinfo.com New York.  "We dispatched dozens of reporters to the city's hardest hit areas across the five boroughs to file multimedia reports in real-time from the streets – reaching many New Yorkers on their mobile devices."

Murray Weiss spent countless hours interviewing NYPD officials, city leaders and city residents to tell all sides of the "stop and frisk" story last year.  His investigation found that the skyrocketing numbers of NYPD stop-and-frisks had little impact on improving crime statistics.

"With decades of experience covering the NYPD, Weiss was in a unique position to break news on the Stop and Frisk issue," said Ventura.  "Following our series of stories on the subject, the NYPD began to change its rhetoric about the purpose of the tactic."

The awards were presented last night at the Society of the Silurians awards banquet.  The Society of the Silurians was founded in 1924 by veteran New York journalists, and remains a venerable club of past and present staff members of newspapers and related organizations.

About DNAinfo.com New York
DNAinfo.com New York (www.DNAinfo.com/New-York) is the city's leading neighborhood news source. We deliver up-to-the-minute reports on entertainment, education, politics, crime, sports, and dining. Our award-winning journalists find the stories – big or small – that matter most to New Yorkers. The inspiration, funding, and strategic vision for DNAinfo.com come from entrepreneur and Ameritrade (AMTD) founder Joe Ricketts.

SOURCE DNAinfo.com New York