A head for headlines: Bridge’s Reinalda wins national award

Congratulations, Acton: You have the best local newspaper headline writer in America. 

Acton Bridge Managing Editor Rob Reinalda’s remarkable work received top honors from ACES, the national professional society for editors. 

The official ceremony was part of ACES’ 2026 VCON, its three-day virtual conference for editors, in mid-September.

The winning portfolio: 

• Edifice wrecks: Town juggles options for aging public buildings
• One if by lamb, two if by seafood: Abundant food options for the 250th
• A Town Meeting tradition ends — not with a bang but a clicker
• A dramatic flare: Massive lantern gets a ‘focal’ role
• Grounds game: Candidates tap coffees, social media to woo voters

“‘Edifice Wrecks’ was devastatingly good,” Matthew Crowley, ACES headline contest chair, said in an email.

Judges’ other comments included: 

• “Edifice wrecks: Town juggles options for aging public buildings knocked my socks off, all the punch of Latin, all the allusions of drama, no translation necessary.” 
• “A Town Meeting tradition ends — not with a bang but a clicker clicked, onomatopoeia and a bent cliché. Magic.” 
• “One if by lamb, two if by seafood: Abundant food options for the 250th would probably make Henry Wadsworth Longfellow himself smile.” 

Great headline writing “is an underappreciated art,” said Bridge Editor-in-Chief Celeste Katz Marston. 

“Capturing the facts and spirit of a story in just a few words is challenging enough, but Rob’s wit and command of the language make his headlines a special delight for our readers,” she said. “We’re lucky to have him on our team.”

Reinalda became The Bridge’s managing editor in July 2025 after a stint as copy editor.

This past March, he won first and second place for headline writing in the New England Newspaper & Press Association’s Better Newspaper Competition, two of the Bridge’s 12 wins in the 2025 contest.

“Much as I love editing, it can be an arduous process — shepherding commas, aligning syntax, checking facts,” Reinalda said. “Writing headlines is a chance to have fun, to play with words. Thankfully, The Bridge affords me latitude to get a little creative sometimes.”

In 2019, Reinalda received ACES’ Robinson Prize, which “honors an editor whose work strengthens our profession through exceptional editing, mentoring, teaching, and community building.”

Reinalda, a veteran of the New York Daily News, the Chicago Tribune, and Axios, is the author of “Why Editors Drink: A snarky look at common, often hilarious, writing blunders.”

His talent put The Bridge in prestigious ACES circles this fall: New York Times copy editor Sean Ernst won in the national headline writing category; The Washington Post garnered team honors for its submissions.

— Acton Bridge staff