Baltimore’s Child earned national recognition at The Parenting Media Association 2023 Design and Editorial Awards Program on Friday with 10 awards, including six top awards within their categories and an overall award for general excellence.
The awards ceremony was held Nov. 3 at the PMA’s annual conference in Chicago, Illinois.
Each parenting publication awardee received gold, silver or bronze in editorial, design and digital categories against publications of a similar size nationally.
Read more about the winning entries for Baltimore’s Child below and explore the stories that made an impact.
The magazine’s staff claimed the highest honor, gold in “General Excellence” for its “elegant design and robust reporting,” especially on tough issues such as grief and child abuse and advice that goes beyond activities and guides, judges wrote.
Baltimore’s Child also won three gold awards in editorial and two in design.
Editorial awards included its extended “Inclusive” section, appearing in the Oct. 2022 issue, for “Special Section Within a Publication, the feature story, “A Tribute to Our Tributaries,” for general feature writing and advice for families raising children with disabilities, recognized in the “Column: Child Development and Parenting Issues” category.
Writing within the special section, judges wrote, was “clear, balancing science-based facts and jargon with illustrative examples and personal stories,” supported by actionable insights and reader-services resources.
Judges pointed out in the feature—about a teen starting an annual music festival to support the environment—that “strong fact-finding and attention to detail gives this readable feature the heft of in-depth information.”
Read “A Tribute to Our Tributaries in our Nov. 2022 digital edition here.
Two gold awards for design were awarded to Baltimore’s Child for work from the magazine’s lead designer Lonna Koblick—in “Special Section” and “Overall Design.”
“Colorful illustrations and pertinent photography strike a harmonious balance, providing a heightened level of visual interest from one story to the next,” judges explain.
Koblick also won the magazine a silver award for “Department Design” for her design of its “DIY” section.
Baltimore’s Child earned three bronze awards, for its health coverage in the “Column: Family Matters” category, its family fun coverage in “Column: Family Fun” and in “Personal Essay.”
Health stories by contributor Rudy Malcom and staff writer Heather M. Ross were commended for being both authoritative and easy to understand, providing insight for parents on navigating medical issues.
Read Ross’ article on youth diabetes in our April 2023 digital edition here.
Family fun roundups had “tight and bright writing” on a variety of options that highlighted not just the publication’s connection with its audience but also the larger community, according to judges.
Contributor Jeffrey Carey’s personal experience with autism in his story, “Passion or Obsession,” in which he sees his disability as a superpower, “also offer step-by-step tips for parents of children with [Autism Spectrum Disorder] to help them know what to expect, to best cope, and to help the child learn that their obsession is not the only topic in the world,” PMA judges explain.
Read Carey’s story in our Sept. 2022 digital edition here.
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