John M. Zavinski, formerly of Warren, has won his seventh Keystone Press Award from the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association for his work at The Herald in Sharon, Pa.
Zavinski, who is newspaper's director of graphics and technology, was one of two staffers to share a first-place prize in this year's competition for Life & Times, the newspaper's monthly senior citizens magazine. It won for best niche publication among Pennsylvania newspapers with circulations of 20,000 or less.
He is the design director for the magazine and writes a monthly column on postcards and local history. The senior-citizens magazine has won first or second place for each of the three contest years since it was launched. Zavinski also is design director and copyeditor for another Herald monthly, the Mercer County Business Chronicle, which previously took a first-place Keystone Press Award in the same category.
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His past first-place Keystones were for front-page design, infographics and special projects.
Zavinski is in his 31st year with The Herald and has held a variety of positions including lead page designer, graphic artist, copyeditor, reporter and computer systems editor/tech. He redesigned the newspaper twice and launched it website in 1996, running the online operations for about seven years.
He was a reporter-photographer with the Warren Times Observer part-time from 1977-80 while attending and after graduating from St. Bonaventure University, Olean, N.Y. He later was an advertising copywriter for Blair Corp. in Warren.
He is a 1976 graduate of Warren Area High School and the son of John and Sylvia Zavinski of North Warren. He lives in Hermitage, Pa.