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

1^st place: Colleen Kenney, Lincoln Journal Star

2^nd place: Amy Hotz, Wilmington Star News

3^rd 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

1^st place: Colleen Kenney, Lincoln Journal Star

2^nd place: Allyson Bird, Charleston Post and Courier

3^rd 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

1^st place: Alicia Blaisdell-Bannon, Cape Cod Times

2^nd place: Isaac Bailey, The Sun News

3^rd place: Cindy Lange-Kubick, Lincoln Journal Star

Honorable Mention:

Tracey O’ Shaughnessy, Republican-American

Feature Specialty Reporting

1^st place: Cary McMullen, The (Lakeland) Ledger

2^nd place: Jennifer Gish, Albany Times Union

3^rd place Colleen Kenney, Lincoln Journal Star

Honorable Mention:

Charles Runnells, Fort Myers News-Press

A&E Feature

1^st place: Colleen Kenney, Lincoln Journal Star

2^nd place: Carrie MacMillan, Republican-American

3^rd 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

1^st place: Kristi Gustafson, Albany Times Union

2^nd place: Lindsey Nair, The Roanoke Times

3^rd place: Andrea Martin, Carla Seward, Margaret Wimmer, Robert Lopez and Faun Finley (Greensboro, South Carolina) News & Record

Multi Media Storytelling

1^st 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

2^nd 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

3^rd 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

1^st 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:

1^st place: Tony Plohetski, Austin American-Statesman

2^nd 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:

1^st place: Hart Seely, The (Syracuse) Post-Standard

2^nd place: Greg Borowski, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

3^rd place: Lorraine Eaton, The Virginian-Pilot

General Commentary:

1^st place: Leslie Linthicum, The Albuquerque Journal

2^nd place: Mike Thomas, The Orlando Sentinel

3^rd place: Mary Louise Schumacher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Honorable Mention:

Michael Sragow, The Baltimore Sun

Feature Specialty Reporting:

1^st place: Kristin Davis, The Virginian-Pilot

2^nd place: Kevin Robbins, Austin American-Statesman

3^rd place: Rene A. Guzman, San Antonio News-Express

A&E Feature:

1^st place: Peter Cooper, The Tennessean

2^nd place: Doug MacCash, The Times Picayune

3^rd place: Mary Carole McCauley, The Baltimore Sun

Honorable Mentions:

John Przybys, Las Vegas Review-Journal

Sandra Sperounes, Edmonton Journal

Online Categories:

Blogging:

1^st place: Alison Sherwood, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

2^nd place: Renee Studebaker, Austin American-Statesman

3^rd place: Mary Louise Schumacher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Multi Media Storytelling

1^st 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/

2^nd 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

3^rd 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 40^th 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

1^st place: Addie Broyles, Austin American Statesman

http://www.austin360.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/food2/index.html

2^nd place:  Mary Louise Schumacher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/entertainment/artcity.html

3^rd place The Tennessean

mobileroo.com

Division 3 (more than 200,000 circulation)

General Feature

1^st place: Laura Blumenfeld, The Washington Post

2^nd place: Jaimee Rose, The Arizona Republic

3^rd 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

1^st place: Michael Kruse, St. Petersburg Times

2^nd place: Lee Hill Kavanaugh, Kansas City Star

3^rd place: John Barry, St. Petersburg Times

Honorable Mention:

Lini S. Kadaba, The Philadelphia Inquirer

General Commentary

1^st place: Philip Kennicott, The Washington Post

2^nd place: Linda Winer, Newsday

3^rd place: Elizabeth Wellington, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Honorable Mention:

Carrie Sturrock, The Oregonian

Feature Specialty Reporting

1^st place: Lane DeGregory, St. Petersburg Times

2^nd place: Robin Givhan, The Washington Post

3^rd place: Samantha Critchell, The Associated Press

Honorable Mention:

Greg Morago, Houston Chronicle

A&E Feature

1^st place: John Barry, St. Petersburg Times

2^nd place: Neely Tucker, The Washington Post

3^rd 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:

1^st place: Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

2^nd place: Gabriel Campanario, Seattle Times

3^rd place: Liz Kelly, The Washington Post

Honorable Mentions:

Steve Spears, St. Petersburg Times

Eric Deggans, St. Petersburg Times

Multi Media Storytelling

1^st 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

3^rd 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

1^st place: Mom2Mom, Kady McMaster, Kansas City Star

Mom’s site

http://www.mom2momkc.com/

2^nd place: Houston Chronicle

Nightlife site

http://www.29-95.com/

Kalyani.Chadha Uncategorized