AmNews Accolades

• The New Jersey Monitor and Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY), source the New York Amsterdam News for heat and gun violence data.
• Highlights of Amsterdam News’ exceptional awards and accolades over the past 24 months.

AmNews Newsroom in Action

• Siobhan “Sam” Bennett, AmNews President/CRO elected to the Local Media Association Board of Directors, one of North America largest media trade organizations with 3,000 members.
• AmNews Editorial selected for Poytner Newsroom Grant “Women and Prisons: Covering the Impact of Incarceration”
• Amsterdam News Educational Foundation receives $500,000 in funding from The Mellon Foundation for the architectural planning phase of “Save This Harlem Treasure” transforming Amsterdam News historic Harlem headquarters into a national center celebrating the Black press’ and Black journalists’ contributions to our nation; a home for new Black media
• Amsterdam News invited to join URL Media “building a sustainable ecosystem where local Black and Brown journalism can thrive at national scale” January 2026.
• AmNews In the News” section Amsterdam News Executive Editor, Madison “Joe” Gray, selected to be part of the prestigious Media Transformation Challenge Class of 2026 following Amsterdam News President, Siobhan “Sam” Bennett Class of 2025 and Amsterdam News Editor-at-Large Damaso Reyes Class of 2024.
• Editor-At-Large Damaso Reyes selected as a John Knight fellow at Stanford University.
• Over 100 Amsterdam News subscribers and donors attend 116th Anniversary Subscriber & Donor Open House at AmNews Headquarters.
• Staff Writer Ariama Long invited by Knight Foundation to attend conference about Economic Mobility & Jobs with ALICE.
• Shannon Chaffers receives “Front Page Award” from the Newswomen’s Club of New York for her her series “Housing Barrier.”
• Shannon Chaffers, one of our Blacklight reporters, was honored by the Newswomen’s Club of New York with their Martha Coman Front Page Award for Best New Journalist
• Helina Selemon, our Blacklight Science Reporter, was named the 2024 Writer of the Year by the New York Press Association. The judges said: “Engaging personal stories and thorough reporting. Very impactful”
• Amsterdam News’ Blacklight investigative unit won two NABJ Salute to Excellence Awards. One for Roxanne Scott’s stories on the impact of climate change on Black homeowners in Queens and the second award for our series Hidden Costs: The Financial Toll of Gun Violence.
• Amsterdam News Publisher and Editor in Chief Elinor Tatum appeared on “Here and Now” on WABC-TV
• Amsterdam News featured on Spectrum News NY1’s “In the Papers” segment
• Helina Selemon, Shannon Chaffers, Noy Thrupkaew and Damaso Reyes earn Best Feature Reporting award from the New York Press Club
• Siobhan Bennett earns “Innovator of the Year” LMA 2025
• Shannon Chaffers earns Newswomen’s Club of New York Martha Coman Award for Best New Journalist
• Kristin Fayne-Mulroy earns E&P Editor Extraordinaire 2025
• Reporters Helina Selemon, Shannon Chaffers and Executive Editor Damaso Reyes take the First Place Journalist Innovation Award for their series “Hidden Costs: The Financial Toll of Gun Violence” at the National Headline Awards
• President Siobhan Bennett accepted in the Knight Fellowship – Poytner Institute/MTC 2025
• Investigative Reporter Shannon Chaffers honored as E&P 2025 News Trailblazer of the Year and Tomorrow’s Trailblazer
• Public Safety Reporter Tandy Lau speaks on the role of diverse media in building trust with the National Press Foundation
• Former Science Reporter Helina Selemon named NY Press Association Writer of the Year
• Elinor Tatum featured on NPR’s “All Things Considered.”
• New York Amsterdam News featured in the New York Times.
• Executive & Investigative Editor Damaso Reyes featured on Journalism Salute podcast
• More to come!

The Amsterdam News being praised at 2024 Knight Foundation Forum by Alicia Bell of the Borealis REJ Fund.

AmNews in the Culture

• AmNews building has cameo in 2019 film Shaft as Samuel Jackson’s office
• Academy Award-winning actor Sidney Poitier credits the Amsterdam News with sparking his acting career

AmNews Impact

Word In Black, conceived by AmNews Publisher Elinor R. Tatum, with 10 other Black publishers nationwide, promises to confront inequities, elevate solutions and amplify the Black experience.