AASFE is proud to announce the winners of its 21st annual Excellence in Feature Writing Contest which featured both print and online categories. The winners will honored on Friday, October 8, 2010 during AASFE’s national conference at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg Florida (Oct. 6-9).
We invite winners and representatives from winning news organizations to attend the conference, Oct. 6-9. The early bird registration for the conference has been extended to July 30.
Winners:
Division One (under 90,000 circulation)
General Feature
1st place: Colleen Kenney, Lincoln Journal Star
2nd place: Amy Hotz, Wilmington Star News
3rd place: Paul Grondahl, Albany Times Union
Honorable Mentions:
Lorraine Ahearn, (Greensboro, North Carolina) News & Record
Joe Duggan, Lincoln Journal Star
Colleen Kenney, Lincoln Journal Star
Short Feature
1st place: Colleen Kenney, Lincoln Journal Star
2nd place: Allyson Bird, Charleston Post and Courier
3rd place: Kyle Kennedy, The (Lakeland) Ledger
Honorable Mentions:
Cindy Lange-Kubick, Lincoln Journal Star
Ray Routhier, (Portland, Maine) Press Herald
Tom Keyser, Albany Times Union
General Commentary
1st place: Alicia Blaisdell-Bannon, Cape Cod Times
2nd place: Isaac Bailey, The Sun News
3rd place: Cindy Lange-Kubick, Lincoln Journal Star
Honorable Mention:
Tracey O’ Shaughnessy, Republican-American
Feature Specialty Reporting
1st place: Cary McMullen, The (Lakeland) Ledger
2nd place: Jennifer Gish, Albany Times Union
3rd place Colleen Kenney, Lincoln Journal Star
Honorable Mention:
Charles Runnells, Fort Myers News-Press
A&E Feature
1st place: Colleen Kenney, Lincoln Journal Star
2nd place: Carrie MacMillan, Republican-American
3rd place: Brynn Mandel, Republican-American
Honorable Mentions:
Jeff Korbelik, Lincoln Journal Star
Brian Mackey, The (Springfield) State Journal-Register
Brett Johnson, Ventura County Star
Online Categories:
Blogging
1st place: Kristi Gustafson, Albany Times Union
2nd place: Lindsey Nair, The Roanoke Times
3rd place: Andrea Martin, Carla Seward, Margaret Wimmer, Robert Lopez and Faun Finley (Greensboro, South Carolina) News & Record
Multi Media Storytelling
1st place: Under 21, The Roanoke Times
A look at the drinking culture on college campuses and the efforts to spur discussions to lower the drinking age.
http://www.roanoke.com/multimedia/under21/main/index.html
2nd place: The Mountains of Roanoke Valley, The Roanoke Times
An interactive graphic exploring the mountains in the Roanoke Valley
http://www.roanoke.com/multimedia/mountains_interactive
3rd place: Hunger, The Fort Myers News-Press
An initiative to highlight the hunger crisis in Southwest Florida
http://news-press.com/hunger
Honorable Mentions:
True Grit, Lincoln Journal Star
Woman moves home to be near brother hero, Lincoln Journal Star
Story, video on a woman who is caring for her brother, who has ALS
http://www.journalstar.com/news/local/article_8af124b2-a4aa-11de-a249-001cc4c002e0.html
Why not DIY? Albany Times Union
http://timesunion.com/life
A video series exploring how to do it yourself in various contexts from cake decorating to dog washing.
Social Media Enterprise
1st place: Jeff’s Top 5, Lincoln Journal Star
Jeff Korbelik’s year-long effort to find the best places to eat and his favorite dishes and beverages, with a forum and other interactive features.
http://moourl.com/ga5ou
2nd place: Tournament of Carols, Albany Times Union
An interactive “bracketology” of favorite holiday tunes
http://blog.timesunion.com/localarts/tournament-of-carols/
Division 2 (90,001-199,999 circulation)
General Feature:
1st place: Tony Plohetski, Austin American-Statesman
2nd place: Mark Johnson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Matt Ehlers, The (Raleigh) News and Observer (tie)
Honorable Mentions:
Donna Keohn, The Tampa Tribune
Jessica Bliss, The Tennessean
Short Feature:
1st place: Hart Seely, The (Syracuse) Post-Standard
2nd place: Greg Borowski, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
3rd place: Lorraine Eaton, The Virginian-Pilot
General Commentary:
1st place: Leslie Linthicum, The Albuquerque Journal
2nd place: Mike Thomas, The Orlando Sentinel
3rd place: Mary Louise Schumacher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Honorable Mention:
Michael Sragow, The Baltimore Sun
Feature Specialty Reporting:
1st place: Kristin Davis, The Virginian-Pilot
2nd place: Kevin Robbins, Austin American-Statesman
3rd place: Rene A. Guzman, San Antonio News-Express
A&E Feature:
1st place: Peter Cooper, The Tennessean
2nd place: Doug MacCash, The Times Picayune
3rd place: Mary Carole McCauley, The Baltimore Sun
Honorable Mentions:
John Przybys, Las Vegas Review-Journal
Sandra Sperounes, Edmonton Journal
Online Categories:
Blogging:
1st place: Alison Sherwood, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
2nd place: Renee Studebaker, Austin American-Statesman
3rd place: Mary Louise Schumacher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Multi Media Storytelling
1st place: Gambling Addiction, Las Vegas Sun Staff
A look at the high toll of gambling addiction in Las Vegas
http://www.lasvegassun.com/gambling-addiction/
2nd place: Sculpture Park, Michael Morain, The Des Moines Register
Online exploration of new sculpture park, with map, photos and video
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/pappajohn-sculpture-park
3rd place: Changed in a Moment, Elizabeth Simpson, Stephen M. Katz, Mirand Mulligan, The Virginian-Pilot
People with brain injuries tell their stories.
http://hamptonroads.com/2009/11/changed-moment-inside-lives-those-living-brain-injury
Honorable Mentions:
The Great Race, William Loeffler, Justin LaBar, Steve Adams, Steve Segal, Christine Zirngibl, Pittsburgh Tribune Review
Coverage of popular running event
Moon landing, Karl Merton Ferron, The Baltimore Sun
Commemoration of 40th anniversary of the moon landing
Multimedium, Mary Ann Roser, Ralph Barrera, Jenni Jones, Austin American- Statesman
How a little girl’s skull was reshaped – the story behind the story
http://photoblog.statesman.com/multimedium
Fort Hood, Jay Janner, Rodolfo Gonzales, Ricardo Brazziel, Jenni Jones, Austin American-Statesman
Social Media Enterprise
1st place: Addie Broyles, Austin American Statesman
http://www.austin360.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/food2/index.html
2nd place: Mary Louise Schumacher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/entertainment/artcity.html
3rd place The Tennessean
mobileroo.com
Division 3 (more than 200,000 circulation)
General Feature
1st place: Laura Blumenfeld, The Washington Post
2nd place: Jaimee Rose, The Arizona Republic
3rd place: Shari Roan, The Los Angeles Times
Honorable Mentions:
Todd C. Frankel, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Scott Farwell, Dallas Morning News
Jeff Seidel, Detroit Free Press
Short Feature
1st place: Michael Kruse, St. Petersburg Times
2nd place: Lee Hill Kavanaugh, Kansas City Star
3rd place: John Barry, St. Petersburg Times
Honorable Mention:
Lini S. Kadaba, The Philadelphia Inquirer
General Commentary
1st place: Philip Kennicott, The Washington Post
2nd place: Linda Winer, Newsday
3rd place: Elizabeth Wellington, The Philadelphia Inquirer
Honorable Mention:
Carrie Sturrock, The Oregonian
Feature Specialty Reporting
1st place: Lane DeGregory, St. Petersburg Times
2nd place: Robin Givhan, The Washington Post
3rd place: Samantha Critchell, The Associated Press
Honorable Mention:
Greg Morago, Houston Chronicle
A&E Feature
1st place: John Barry, St. Petersburg Times
2nd place: Neely Tucker, The Washington Post
3rd place: Cindy Hoedel, Kansas City Star
Honorable Mentions:
Tony Brown, Cleveland Plain Dealer
Jeff Klinkenberg, St. Petersburg Times
Brian McCollum, Detroit Free Press
Online Categories:
Blogging:
1st place: Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
2nd place: Gabriel Campanario, Seattle Times
3rd place: Liz Kelly, The Washington Post
Honorable Mentions:
Steve Spears, St. Petersburg Times
Eric Deggans, St. Petersburg Times
Multi Media Storytelling
1st place: For Their Own Good, TampaBay.com
Stories of abuse at a boys’ home decades later
http://www.tampabay.com/specials/2009/reports/marianna/
2nd place: Motown, Freep.com (Detroit Free Press)
50 years, 50 videos from Motown
http://www.freep.com/section/special0302
3rd place: Scene In, The Washington Post
Fashion and style in D.C.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/artsandliving/scene-in/
Honorable Mention:
Choosing Thomas, Dallas Morning News
A couple finds out their unborn son has a genetic disorder.
http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/photography/2009/thomas/
Social Media Enterprise
1st place: Mom2Mom, Kady McMaster, Kansas City Star
Mom’s site
http://www.mom2momkc.com/
2nd place: Houston Chronicle
Nightlife site
http://www.29-95.com/