Gazette Chicago reporter Eva Hofmann’s coverage in several articles
of issues related to legalizing cannabis in Illinois has won an Award of Excellence from Communications Concepts in the writing series category in the organization’s Apex 2019 competition.
Hofmann’s articles appeared in the July 5, August 2, and October 4, 2019, editions of Gazette Chicago.
Communications Concepts Inc. helps publishing, public relations, and marketing professionals improve publications and communications programs through consulting services; it also reports on writing and communications in print, web, electronic, and social media. The organization is based in Alexandria, VA. This year’s Apex competition was the 32nd annual.
“Apex Awards are based on excellence in graphic design, editorial content, and the ability to achieve overall communications excellence,” said Ken Turtoro, executive editor of the Apex Awards. “With nearly 1,200 entrees, competition was particularly intense.”
“Eva covered cannabis’s health benefits and its dangers to health, financial benefits and costs, and danger to the public in terms of crime and other social issues such as employee rights in the workplace,” said Mark J. Valentino, editor and publisher of Gazette Chicago.“I know of no other reporter or media outlet covering all sides of the issue so thoroughly over such a long period of several months.
“As one of our top reporters, Eva did an excellent job in bringing all aspects of the issue of legalized cannabis in Illinois to Gazette Chicago’s readers,” Valentino added.
“When I started this project over a year ago, it was going to be one article,” Hofmann recalled. “Who knew it would get so complicated? There were a lot of questions to address in different categories. So we decided to break it down into manageable chunks. Fortunately, I had great contacts who generously shared their knowledge, expertise, and opinions.
“Many questions about the effects of recreational marijuana remain open,” she continued. “Maybe the answers will become clearer as our first year of legal weed comes to a close. What we couldn’t predict was that legalization would coincide with a global pandemic and statewide shutdown. It will be interesting to learn how Illinois fared in terms of cannabis sales, tax revenue, DUIs, and the other aspects of legal weed in light of COVID-19.”
Jeffrey Grant Brown, a Chicago attorney quoted in the series, said he was “pleased to learn that Eva has been awarded the Apex Award. She did a great job of weaving together a lot of disparate information and putting it into a clear, interesting, and readable form. Eva was also very efficient and professional in the time we spent together on her information gathering.”
Gazette Chicago has won 73 journalism and publication excellence awards since 1983.
“Our most recent Apex Award shows once again the quality of writers who contribute to Gazette Chicago each issue and the types of articles that our readers have found compelling every month for the past 38 years,” Valentino added.
The international Apex 2020 awards competition featured winners from Canada, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Awardees came from numerous companies and organizations, including the American Bankers Association, American Public Health Association, China Airlines, NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center, the National Football League, the United States Tennis Association, the University of Texas, Veterans of Foreign Wars Magazine, andthe Walt Disney Co.
For more information on Apex Awards of Excellence and Communications Concepts, log on to www.apexawards.com.
To read Hofmann’s award-winning articles, go to www.gazettechicago.com. Click on the e-edition tab, and on the page that comes up, click on the archives button at upper right. Type in the dates of the issues you would like to see.
—William S. Bike