JOSEPH R. HOLLAND LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Bill Madden receives the Joseph R. Holland Lifetime Achievement Award for an accomplished career as a sports writer and sports editor at the Rockland Journal-News, along with his impactful work as an administrator, baseball and softball umpire, basketball official, and youth coach spanning 45 years in Rockland County.

Bill worked as a sports writer and sports editor at the Rockland Journal-News from 1979 to 1992. Under his direction as sports editor, the sports section won numerous Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) awards for journalism excellence.

Their awards for Top 10 Best Daily Section and Top 10 Best Sunday Section in 1988 and 1989 were the first and only time in the history of the newspaper. The sports department also won several state and industry awards for sports writing, and Bill was recognized with multiple industry citations for his weekly column.

According to the comments from APSE contest judges, the Rockland Journal-News’ coverage of female sports was ground-breaking in the industry during the early 1980s, when sports sections around the country almost exclusively covered boys’ sports.

Bill later became the newspaper’s Managing Editor.