LOCAL reporter Katie Blasl has been selected as the 2016 James Murphy Cub Reporter of the Year by the Press Club of Long Island, the local chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
The annual award is presented to a rookie reporter who demonstrates ability and dedication to journalism.
Blasl, 23, is a December 2014 graduate of Stony Brook University, where she majored in English and minored in journalism. She is the daughter of RiverheadLOCAL and SoutholdLOCAL publishers Peter Blasl and Denise Civiletti. Having grown up in the local news business, Katie says there was never a question in her mind about what she wanted to do in life.
“It is so rewarding to be able to work and pursue my passion in the place where I grew up,” Blasl said. “I’m so fortunate to be able to tell the stories of the incredible people who live and work in my hometown.”
With the launch by her parents of RiverheadLOCAL in 2010, a few months before she graduated from Riverhead High School, Blasl quickly became involved in developing the news website and producing content for it. She worked part-time at it throughout her college career, with the exception of the five months she spent in Auckland, New Zealand in a study abroad program through Stony Brook.
“In her first year as a full-time reporter for RiverheadLOCAL and SoutholdLOCAL, Katie has demonstrated a talent for uncovering facts, getting to the heart of complicated subjects and writing clear, concise stories,” said editor, co-publisher (and proud mom) Denise Civiletti. “She’s a versatile writer, as seen in the examples of her work I submitted to PCLI in nominating her for this recognition.”
Contest rules required the submission of three examples of the nominee’s work.
Blasl broke the story of an algae-induced die-off of diamondback terrapin turtles in local waters last May with ‘Massive’ die-off of turtles: Dozens of dead diamondback terrapins wash up along Flanders Bay beaches. It turned out to be just the beginning of an ecological nightmare in the Peconic Estuary bigger than any since the 1980s brown tide that decimated the Peconic Bay scallop population.
“In that significant story, Katie exhibits great skill in marshaling facts and telling a complex story in clear, concise prose, with lots of color. She enhances her story with photos and video,” Civiletti said. “In the days and weeks that followed, Katie stayed on the story of what was happening in our local waters like a bulldog, leading other media outlets with reporting on the historic fish kills that followed the turtle die-off.”
In her stories about “bubble boy” Gabriel Dispenziere and traumatic brain injury victim Spencer Shea, Blasl draws the reader in with a mastery of scene-setting, pace and narrative, Civiletti said.
“I am aware that anything I may say in praise of this fine young reporter may very well be dismissed as maternal pride,” Civiletti wrote in the nomination letter. “But I can honestly say that in my work as an editor and publisher over the past 15 years, I have never had a more fully formed, better equipped reporter come to me directly from college. Of course, I like to think I had a little something to do with that. But Katie is the real deal. Her intelligence, talent and passion inspire me on a daily basis.”
The award will be presented at the Press Club of Long Island’s 2016 Media Awards Dinner on June 2.
