Peaks Island News wins nine awards from Maine Press Association
Peaks Island News
Oct. 17, 2026
SOUTH PORTLAND – Peaks Island News won nine awards from the Maine Press Association, which were presented during the organization’s annual conference Saturday in South Portland.
The newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Ben McCanna, won four first-place awards in the feature, news, outdoors, and religion/spirituality categories for his stories about Blain Alves, TEIA’s climate-resiliency plan, the Peaks Island Swim Team, and Rev. Will Green’s arrest during a protest.
PIN reporter Michael R. DiLorenzo shared a second-place award with McCanna in the news category for their co-written story about the Peaks Island Lions Club.
McCanna also received two second-place awards for photography in the news and people categories.
PIN won a third-place award for its editorial page submission, which included writing by Will Green, McCanna, Mira Ptacin, Ross Sneyd and Bill Zimmerman.
Margaret Grace Myers won a third-place award for writing in the religion/spirituality category for her story about New Brackett Church.
Rhonda Berg, Peaks Island News’ board president, said the awards, like the newspaper, reflect the community.
“Peaks Island is an exceptional place with exceptional people,” she said. “We strive to tell Peaks Island’s stories in an equally exceptional manner.”
The Peaks Island News, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, was formed by a group of island residents in 2023 and began publishing every other month in early 2024. Since March 2025, PIN has been published monthly.
This year marks the first time PIN has entered MPA’s annual Better Newspaper Contest. Although a monthly newspaper, PIN competed in the weekly division, as directed by the MPA, because there is no monthly division. The contest judged material published between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2026. PIN’s entries included works from 13 writers and photographers.
MPA was founded in 1864 and is one of the oldest professional news organizations in the United States, according to its website. It has 34 member publications, including daily newspapers that compete in their own division.