Fitzmaurice receives reporting awards in Virginia

Former Lovell Chronicle reporter Ryan Fitzmaurice was honored recently with a major award in the Virginia Press Association annual awards contest.

Fitzmaurice, a reporter at the Northern Virginia Daily, received a special award from the Center for Integrity in News Reporting.

In the first year the award has been given, Fitzmaurice received the integrity award for his story on complaints by teachers and parents regarding mold issues in Shenandoah County schools.

According to a story in the Northern Virginia Daily, judges wrote of Fitzmaurice’s work: “Very in-depth, important reporting on a topic that arguably affects everybody: health environment in schools. Very good public accountability health/education story/investigation here.”

The Northern Virginia Daily competes in the Daily 1 category for daily newspapers with a circulation of up to 9,999, the awards story states.

Fitzmaurice, who won numerous awards during his time in Lovell from the Wyoming Press Association contest, also won three other awards in the Virginia Press Association contest: first place in feature story writing for a story about a man blinded in a hunting accident, first place in general news writing for ongoing coverage of the proposed Shenandoah Rail Trail project and second place in health, science and environmental writing for stories on “algal blooms in the Shenandoah River, the groundwater situation in the region from the lack of rain and how the federal freeze on Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funds had stalled conservation projects and cost-share programs that help farmers implement sustainable practices,” according to the Northern Virginia Daily story.

Fitzmaurice, who lived in Lovell from 2018 through 2023, now lives in Winchester, Virginia, and is to be married to Danielle Cornwell in September.