WESTFIELD – The Leader earned two first place awards – one for feature writing and another for editorial content – during this year’s New Jersey Press Association (NJPA) contest.
Publisher Lauren Barr was recognized with a first place award in the category of Responsible Journalism for her editorial, “Putting Politics Over People Subverts the Democratic Process.” The piece, which ran in the July 17th edition, condemned a decision by Assemblyman Craig Coughlin (D-District 19) to pull a vote on bill on A-3558, which would have endorsed the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of Antisemitism. Mr. Coughlin said at the time that he would have needed to reach across the political aisle in order to get enough support for the bill to pass, but decided to cancel the vote rather than use support from the GOP.
“That action effectively stopped the democratic process from taking place and cancelled the desires of Union County Assembly members Linda Carter (D-22), Jim Kennedy (D-22), Michele Matsikoudis (R-21), Nancy Muñoz (R-21), Annette Quijano (D-20) and Reginald Atkins (D-20),” Ms. Barr wrote, “Democratic Party leaders have been warning Americans that President Trump represents a threat to democracy, but in our state, when the Assembly Speaker had to choose between the interests of his party and the interests of democracy in New Jersey, he chose his party. To hell with the bipartisan majority.”
Representatives from the NJPA said the piece was both informative and powerful in its delivery.
Mrs. Barr and Lead Reporter Katie Moen also took home the third place award in the same category for an editorial that they penned in response to recent happenings at Cranford Township Committee meetings. The piece, “Thilly’s Silliness is Costing Taxpayers, Preventing Speech” detailed repeat instances of disruptive and problematic behavior while calling a resident to task for wasting taxpayer dollars on frivolous lawsuits.
Ms. Moen was also awarded first place in the Feature Writing category for a story titled “Happy Ending For Pups Found at Clark Intersection.”
The story, published in March of 2025, revealed that three members of the Clark Township Police Department had adopted puppies that had been found abandoned by the side of the road in Clark the year before.
The NJPA said the story was “a well-written piece that tells a great story.”
All three winning pieces can be found at goleader.com This marks the fourth year in a row that Leader staff has earned a first place award. An awards ceremony will be held in April.
