đ Charlotte Ledger wins top award for arts critique
Former managing editor's review of uptown photography exhibit named best in the South
The following article appeared in the July 16, 2025, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with smart and original local news for Charlotte. We offer free and paid subscription plans. More info here.
đ Ledger wins 1st-place Southern journalism award for arts review
Good news: The Ledger won an award this month honoring the best journalism in the Southeastern U.S. in the category of arts criticism.
Cristina Bolling, The Ledgerâs former managing editor, won a first-place âGreen Eyeshade Awardâ in the âcriticism & reviewsâ category in the print and digital writing division for her March 2024 review of âSeeing Auschwitz,â an exhibit about the Holocaust at the VAPA Center in uptown that was presented by the Stan Greenspon Holocaust and Social Justice Education Center at Queens University of Charlotte.
âSeeing Auschwitzâ was a photography exhibit at the VAPA Center uptown last year. (Ledger photo)
The Green Eyeshade Awards, in their 75th year, are run by the Society of Professional Journalists and recognize âthe very best journalismâ across 12 Southern states. The odd name refers to the visors worn by old-time newspaper workers.
Cristinaâs article offered a thoughtful reflection on the exhibit and emphasized how it offered the chance to examine the ordinary faces and the human characteristics of the victims and the perpetrators. (Cristina left The Ledger last month after five years to take a job outside of journalism.)
Other Charlotte media winners were The Charlotte Observer, which won two awards, for entertainment reporting (Adam Bell) and profile-writing (Theoden Janes); and Charlotte PBS station WTVI, which won four awards, in feature reporting, explanatory reporting and short-form video reporting.
As I often say, weâre not in this for the awards, and building a successful local media company through smart, honest and thoughtful local journalism is its own reward. But weâre grateful to be recognized by our journalism peers for publishing work they consider to be first-rate. âTony Mecia
Related Ledger article:
âThe Charlotte Ledger is a finalist for 2 national awards; Health care writer Michelle Crouch wins 1st-place national award for Atrium coverageâ (June 30)
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