The Communicator PEF radio ads score high marks in competitions PEF’s efforts to communicate with its members and the public earned high honors recently in national and statewide competitions for labor communicators. The American Federation of Teachers Communications Association (AFTCA) presented The Communicator with five awards at the group’s annual awards dinner in July. And the PEF magazine picked up two awards from the Metro New York Labor Communications Council at its convention in May. In both cases, PEF competed against the largest-circulation publications. The judges praised The Communicator as an “excellent publication” with “excellent covers.” They also liked the use of sidebars and page margins, which they said, “are very inviting and pull the reader in.” In addition, PEF’s ad campaign on the union’s contract fight won an AFTCA Award of Merit in the “unique performance” category. AFTCA gave The Communicator first place honors for best news story, best feature story and best layout. The winning news story, “Health care workers call for safe staffing,” by PEF Public Relations Director Denyce Duncan Lacy appeared in the December 2000-January 2001 issue. “The story highlights a largely overlooked failure of state government,” stated the AFTCA judges. “Photos of two injured workers make the problem real.” They praised the article for its “good lead” and “excellent use of actual cases and stories.” The winning feature story, written by PEF editor and reporter Sherry Halbrook, was titled “Rats, roaches, mold — nothing escapes food inspector’s sharp eyes.” It focused on the challenges faced by state food inspector Evelyn Fuentes in Manhattan. “A well written, bright story,” said the AFTCA judges. “The story makes clear, by focusing on one member, the union’s vital role in the health of New York’s residents; a fine way to tell the story of food inspectors.” The Metro New York group also liked the article, which ran in the May 2000 issue of the magazine. Judges in that contest gave it second place. AFTCA also gave The Communicator the first-place award for “Best Layout and Design” for the cover of its December 2000-January 2001 cover using a wall of bricks “engraved” with legislative victories, such as pension COLA, to illustrate how PEF is building stronger futures for members and their families. The cover was created by PEF graphic designer Mario Bruni. A photo of PEF members rallying in Albany for the pension COLA caught the eyes of the Metro NY judges who gave it a third place in the best photograph category. The picture was taken by Halbrook and was on the cover of the June 2000 issue. The same photo received an Award of Merit from AFTCA, which called it “simple, colorful and full of impact.” The Communicator also took third place in the AFTCA “general excellence” competition. The Communicator Home Page