The staff of the Diocesan Communications Office was recognized at the 2026 Catholic Media Association Awards with four honors for their work in 2025. The competition is open to Catholic media in the United States and Canada. Awards were presented at the annual CMA conference in Atlantic City, New Jersey on June 19.
In the social media advertising campaigns category, “Find Your Catholic School Home” took first place. The online campaign was led by Michael Suso and produced in collaboration with Sharon Incorvati, Nancy Fishburn, and DM Productions. The judges said: “This submission is well produced, with excellent use of visuals and sound. It captures the story succinctly and creatively.”
The campaign included a mix of static and video advertisements featured on Facebook and Instagram from Jan. 6 to Feb. 16, 2025. It propelled the Office of Catholic Education page to the top-visited page on the Diocese of Cleveland website and fueled a six-year high for pre-k and elementary school enrollment, for an increase of 9.8%.
In the best multimedia package – feature category, “Julianne’s Journey” earned a third place. The package was featured on the cover of the May/June 2025 issue of Northeast Ohio Catholic magazine, in an accompanying video, and on social media. It told the story of Julianne Smith, a wife and mother of three, who survived a life-threatening brain aneurysm and the role her faith and the prayers and support of her community played in her recovery.
The magazine article was written by Carol Kovach, and Kay Colby produced the video. Also contributing to the package were Nancy Fishburn and Jeff Stutzman.
The judges said: “’Julianne’s Journey’ is an inspirational story of one woman’s path through faith, healing and recovery. Told through the voices of her own family through video, photos and a well-written narrative, the project takes viewers inside Julianne’s battle with a brain aneurysm and the ways her family recovered together.”
The competition in the multimedia package was substantial, with first and second place winners submitted by the same international organization, the Catholic Near East Welfare Association, headquartered in New York. First place was about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, while second place featured the Christian Community and the ongoing conflict in Lebanon.
In the best podcaster category, Joe Cronauer received an honorable mention for My Daily Prayers, and Kailey Baca received an honorable mention for best use of video on social media – diocesan communication, for “Youth Mass and Rally Highlights.” (There were no judges’ comments for honorable mention awards.)
Emily Sanna, executive editor of U.S. Catholic and CMA Awards Committee chair, said the entries submitted this year reflect diversity, as well as how seriously CMA members take their vocation. The awards categories include books, newspapers, magazines, communications, advertising, podcasts, video, social media, digital storytelling and more.
“Throughout it all, we have striven to fulfill our vocation as journalists, prioritizing accuracy and integrity instead of merely focusing on fads or trends. Understanding the role of the Church in the world is not possible without this work of telling the many stories that together make up the dynamic narrative of Catholicism … Catholic media is a broad and evolving ecosystem of storytellers, communicators and journalists responding to the needs of their communities,” she added.