Archdiocese of Washington Recognized for Excellence in Communications

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

WASHINGTON – The Archdiocese of Washington’s Secretariat for Communications has been recognized for excellence across various platforms for its efforts in evangelization and communicating the good works of the Catholic Church. Specifically, the Catholic Press Association, Diocesan Information Systems Conference and Telly Awards have recently recognized the work of the archdiocese.

At its annual conference in June, the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada honored Cardinal Donald Wuerl, archbishop of Washington, with its 2014 Bishop John England Award, which is given for distinguished service in exercising and defending First Amendment rights. Mark Zimmermann, editor of the archdiocese’s Catholic Standard newspaper, won a first place award for Best Coverage of the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington. Rafael Roncal, editor of the archdiocese’s Spanish-language El Pregonero newspaper, won a first place award for Best Editorial, and the newspaper was honored with a third place finish in the General Excellence – Publication category. Find a full list of the awards won by the Catholic Standard and El Pregonero here.

The Diocesan Information Systems Conference (DISC), which is the premier showcase for the use of information technology within the Catholic Church at both local and national levels, presented the Archdiocese of Washington with the Diocesan Achievement Award at its annual conference in June in recognition of the archdiocese’s use of Twitter as a social media platform to serve parishes, schools and parishioners. All 254 North American (arch)dioceses were eligible for this award, and Twitter activity and engagement were tracked using Fig Leaf Software’s Measured Voice platform between February 15, 2014, and May 31, 2014. The Archdiocese of Washington was recognized for securing the highest level of engagement during that period.

The Archdiocese of Washington was awarded a Bronze Telly Award for “Share the Joy,” an advertising spot produced by the archdiocese for its annual Advent campaign, “Find the Perfect Gift.” The entry for the Telly Awards was for the category of “Local TV and Cable – Not-for-Profit,” which called for entries that aired locally on television to promote non-profit organizations and events. The Telly Awards was founded in 1979 and honors local, regional and cable TV commercials and programs, video and film productions and online commercials, video and films. See the advertising spot that won the Telly Award here.

Find out more about the Archdiocese of Washington at www.adw.org.

The Archdiocese of Washington is home to over 620,000 Catholics, 139 parishes and 96 Catholic schools, located in Washington, D.C., and five Maryland counties: Calvert, Charles, Montgomery, Prince George’s and St. Mary’s.

Contact:
Chieko Noguchi or Sheridan Watson
Office of Media & Public Relations
Secretariat for Communications
301-853-4516
[email protected]