Veteran newspaper journalist Wendy Ruderman of the Philadelphia Daily News will speak at the Society of Professional Journalists annual New Jersey Excellence in Journalism awards luncheon, Sunday, June 13 at the Theatre Square Grill, in the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, NJ.

Awards in 60 categories will be presented to outstanding journalists from daily and weekly newspapers, online publications, radio and television stations, newsletters and magazines.

Jake Remaly of the Daily Record and Sarah Rahman of the Jersey Journal won first and second place, respectively in the Wilson Barto category for outstanding achievement by a first-year reporter in daily newspapers. Jason Braff of the Town News, Lina Khouri of the Montclair Times and Jacob Kamaras of Eliyahu Publications took first, second and third place, respectively, among weekly newspaper journalists.

The Tim O’Brien Award for best  investigative reporting using the NJ Open Public Records Act [OPRA] goes to The Montclair Times for “Where’s Your Money Going?” by Terrence T. McDonald.  Local journalists from The Montclair Times and The Record won several other awards that will be presented at the luncheon.

The luncheon begins at 3 p.m. Tickets are $20. All are welcome. You may pay in advance by sending a check made out to NJ-SPJ, and mail it to Jane Primerano, Treasurer, P.O. Box 511, Hope NJ, 07844. You may pay at the door, but you must RSVP by June 10 and include the number of guests accompanying you. Please RSVP to Sue Livio at sklivio@yahoo.com.