Annual East Tennessee GPC Contest Winners for work published, broadcast or posted online in 2008 and announced at the awards banquet May 15, 2009
(Categories for which no entries were received are not listed. In some categories the judges declined to give an award at all levels.)
DEADLINE/SPOT NEWS REPORTING
Daily Newspapers with Circulation Over 25,000
Award of Excellence – Daniel Gilbert, Michael L. Owens and Gary B. Gray, the Bristol Herald Courier for “My son never took him serious”
Judge’s comments – Great lede and quotes. Shows gritty reporting, especially on gun issues.
Daily Newspapers With Circulation Under 25,000
Third Place winner is Matthew Stewart of The Daily Times – for a piece headlined “Airline pilots charged with intoxication”
Award of Merit – also goes to Matthew Stewart for his story “Maryville delays school construction”
Award of Excellence – Robert Norris, The Daily Times for “Time to say goodbye.”
Judge’s Comment: “Good descriptive writing.”
Non-Daily Newspapers
Award of Merit – Natasha Lafayette of the LaFollette Press for “Overturned truck”
Award of Excellence – Michael R. Moser of the Crossville Chronicle about “Go rest high on that mountain”
Judge’s comment: (The story) is written with a sensitivity and caring as opposed to the routine recitation of facts it might have been, and deserves recognition.
GENERAL REPORTING
Daily Newspapers Over 25,000
Honorable mention – Rebecca Ferrar, Knoxville News Sentinel, for “Hillcrest Nursing Homes”
Third place – Amy McRary, News Sentinel, Knoxville, for “Hunger strikes” and “Program sends hunger packing”
Award of Merit – Daniel Gilbert, Michael L. Owens and Gary Gray of the Bristol Herald Courier, “Bristol shooting rampage”
Award of Excellence – Daniel Gilbert, Bristol Herald Courier, for “Judgment call”
Judge’s comment: This extensive series on the power of Virginia legislators in appointing and rejecting judges effectively scrutinized the exceptional hold Virginia’s legislature retains over the state’s judiciary. The story on the legislators’ lack of interest in bar association recommendations nicely raised the question of how qualified legislators are to govern the judicial branch of state government. It would have been worthwhile to investigate more fully how the northern Virginia bar associations gained the respect of legislators.
Daily Newspapers Under 25,000
Third place – Jessica Stith, The Daily Times, Maryville, “Teens tell of sex”
Award of Merit – Joel Davis, The Daily Times, “Reclaiming the Mountain”
Award of Excellence – Jessica Stith, The Daily Times, “He kept throwing them”
Judge’s comment: Great job with a hard-to-get interview.
Non-Daily Newspapers
Third place – Larry Van Guilder, Shopper-News Now, “And the stink goes on”
Award of Merit -Lance Coleman of Blount Today for “Traffic jam”
Award of Excellence – Michael R. Moser, Crossville Chronicle, “Jury says not guilty”
Judge’s comment: – Great scene setting!
NEWS REPORTING – Radio
Honorable Mention — Ann Lloyd, WUOT, “Jefferson County schools struggle with funding”
Third place – Chrissy Keuper of WUOT-FM, “Hill vs. TVA”
Award of Merit – Dave Foulk, Catherine Howell, Alex Martin, Channing Smith and Chris Hensley from WNOX-FM, “WNOX 08″
Award of Excellence – Matt Shafer Powell, WUOT, “In the space of a moment,” about the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church shootings.
Judge’s comment: Excellent blend of narration and sound bites to tell the story. Excellently simple but descriptive and vivid writing to detail the story for the listener. A very good description of what happened-the impact-and where things stand now.
NEWS REPORTING – Television
Honorable mention – Anthony Welsch, WBIR-TV, “Nola’s neighbors”
Third place -Alison Morrow, John Martin and Jerry Owens, WBIR, “TVA Ash Spill”
Award of Merit – 10 News Team from WBIR, Bill Shory, news director, “10 News of July 27, 2008″
Award of Excellence – Channel 3 Eyewitness News Team, WRCB-TV in Chattanooga, “Dalton explosion”
Judge’s comment: A great job of using all available resources to cover the developing story as completely as possible. Excellent blend of live reports from several locations pertinent to this story. The award toes to
FEATURE WRITING
Daily Newspapers Over 25,000
Honorable mention – Lola Alapo, Knoxville News Sentinel, “Going the Distance”
Third place -Frank Munger, the News Sentinel, “Secrets From Crossroads”
Award of Merit -Scott Barker, Knoxville News Sentinel, “Symphony Serenity”
Award of Excellence – Jim Balloch, the News Sentinel, “Who killed Rose Busch?”
Judge’s comment: Gripping story of tenacity resulting from a long search that could have resulted in a mass of material ground over with tiresome detail. The reporter clearly was caught up in his story in a way that holds the reader’s attention.
Daily Newspapers Under 25,000
Third place -Rheta Murry, The Daily Times, “Fitness Goals Attainable”
Award of Merit – Linda Braden Albert, The Daily Times, “It’s a Boy”
Award of Excellence – Rheta Murry, The Daily Times, “Deli will miss longtime diner”
Judge’s comment: A unique story of everyday people brought to life by careful attention to detail.
Non-Daily Newspapers
Third Place – Rose Kennedy of Metro Pulse for “Stand by me”
Award of Merit – Stefan Cooper of Blount Today for “Class Act”
Award of Excellence winner – Hillari Dowdle, Metro Pulse, “Our big headache”
Judge’s comment: Descriptive and insightful.
FEATURE REPORTING – Radio
Third place – Chrissy Keuper, WUOT-FM, “American wild ginseng”
Award of Merit – Ann Lloyd, WUOT-FM, “Ordnance training”
Award of Excellence – Matt Shafer Powell , WUOT, “My Life. My Vote” (Sarah Moore Greene segment)
Judge’s comment: This entry is an excellent human interest report profiling a civil rights pioneer. The writing is concise and descriptive, yet the full extent of the storytelling is gripping and keeps the listener involved.
FEATURE REPORTING – Television
Award of Merit -10 News Team from WBIR-TV, for a Live at Five at Four broadcast
Award of Excellence – Alison Hunt and Nate McLaughlin for a feature titled “Sailing Away”
Judge’s comment: Great use of video. Well edited. Unique story with a unique point of view.
SERIES/PACKAGE/PROJECT WRITING
This category recognizes an individual or team effort in a series of stories on a related topic. They may be published over several days or as a one-day package, and entries may include supporting information posted on the newspaper’s Web site.
Daily Newspapers Over 25,000
Honorable mention – Kristi Nelson, News Sentinel, “Rural remedy: Health care help from abroad”
Award of Merit – J. Todd Foster and the staff of the Bristol Herald Courier for “The travel trade”
Award of Excellence – Matt Lakin, News Sentinel, “Echoes of the Guns”
Judge’s comment: Not only does the series revive history, but the depth of the reporting shows why it is relevant now-and why it is news. Incredible reporting to get the detail for the graphics and photos.
Daily Newspapers Under 25,000 - The Daily Times swept this category.
Third Place – Jessica Stith, for “C.O.P.: Citizens on Patrol”
Award of Merit – Linda Braden Albert, “Celebrate women; Haven House helps; Comforts of home; and Deadly legacy”-all these stories were on domestic violence
Award of Excellence – Steve Wildsmith, Tom Sherlin and Wesley Miller of The Daily Times, for “Redistilled”
Judge’s comment: Well-written look at the local music scene and its uncertain future directions.
Non-Daily newspapers
Third – Rose Kennedy, Matthew Everett and Coury Turczyn, Metro Pulse, for “Dolly World”
Award of Merit – Susan Sharp and Natasha Lafayette, LaFollette Press, “Missing persons case comes to tragic end”
Award of Excellence goes to the Metro Pulse team of Rose Kennedy, Jack Neely, Stephanie Piper, Matthew Everett, Rikki Hall and members of the TVUUC for coverage of the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church shootings
Judge’s comment: Compelling story told from all aspects in this insightful package.
DOCUMENTARY/PUBLIC AFFAIRS PROGRAMMING – Radio
This award is for a special effort on a particular topic, theme or one broadcast of a regularly scheduled program.
Honorable Mention – Ann Lloyd, WUOT-FM, “Financial roundtable”
Third Place — Catherine Howell, WIVK-FM, for “Community concerns”
The Award of Merit in this category goes to Matt Shafer Powell, Chrissy Keuper and Greg Hill of WUOT-FM “Dialogue 2008″
Award of Excellence — Matt Shafer Powell, WUOT, for “My Life. My Vote”
Judge’s comment: This public affairs program uses superior writing and storytelling to focus on an issue of importance to the station’s entire audience. It is an excellent focus on the importance of voting in the historic election year.
INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING
This category considers individual or team effort in research, writing and reporting. Entry must indicate that the reporter employed documents and human sources and that the findings have been previously unrevealed. Emphasis in the news story, series of reports, or project should be on thorough reporting of an issue of community concern. The impact of the reporting in the community may be considered by the judges but is not crucial. Entries may include supporting information posted on the station’s Web site.
Daily Newspapers Over 25,000
Third place -Hayes Hickman, Knoxville News Sentinel, “Warning Signs”
Award of Merit -Jim Balloch, the News Sentinel, “Who Killed Rose Busch?”
Award of Excellence – Michael L. Owens, Bristol Herald Courier, “Drug dealers could get seized cash back”
Judge’s comment: A timely and very well-reported story. Exposes a major gap in public policy and shows where more policies are needed.
Non-Daily Newspapers
Award of Excellence – Charles Maldonado of Metro Pulse, “The Box We Bought”
Judge’s comment: Using interviews with key decision-makers and delving deep into financial documents, Maldonado did what too few reporters do: He checked up on past promises to see if they’ve been fulfilled. The result was a well-written, detailed and balanced story that set forth the facts and perspective–and let readers draw their own conclusions.
Television
Award of Merit – Rachel Withers and the Eyewitness News Team from WRCB-TV in Chattanooga for their story titled “Cancer Con”
Award of Excellence – Don Dare and Dave Wignall, WATE-TV, “Questioning Cover TN”
SPORTS REPORTING
Daily Newspapers Over 25,000
Award of Merit – Mike Strange, Knoxville News Sentinel, “Long distance spirit”
Award of Excellence – Brian T. Smith, Bristol Herald Courier, “ETSU struggles with its place in the Sun”
Judge’s comment: What makes Brian’s article excellent is its ability to convey the fans’ frustrations while remaining fair to the university. Along with his great writing is how well he researched the issue.
Daily Newspapers Under 25,000
Award of Merit – Leonard Butts, The Daily Times, “Moving on up”
Award of Excellence – Ryan Callahan, The Daily Times, “Swervin’ no more: Irvan content”
Judge’s comment: Callahan has a way of keeping readers interested with mystery, great writing and an attention-grabbing lead. Although he chose sporting, it’s obvious he can write on any subject.
Non-Daily newspapers
Honorable mention – Stefan Cooper, Blount Today, “The other streak”
Award of Excellence – Jack Neely, Metro Pulse, “Is he the father of East Tennessee football?
Judge’s comment: Neely knows sports writing. He also knows how to capture his readers’ attention, keep them entertained with his lively writing style and inform his readers. Outstanding!
SPORTS REPORTING – Television
Award of Excellence – . Keith Cawley, WRCB-TV Chattanooga, for “Losers Win”
Judge’s comment: Very good blend of audio and video elements to complement the good basic writing and storytelling evident in this piece. The reporter gets a lot accomplished in just 2:03
EDITORIAL WRITING
Daily Newspapers, Over 25,000
Award of Merit – Hoyt Canady, Knoxville News Sentinel, “Keep election in proper perspective,” “Some still don’t get the meaning of ‘open’” and “It was the politics of 2007 haunting Moore, Pinkston”
Award of Excellence – J. Todd Foster, Bristol Herald Courier, “Sullivan school chief search fatally flawed,” “Chaffin could do free dental work for public,” and “Cowards”
Judge’s comment: Foster’s editorial clearly states its premise: The Board of Education should reconsider its selection of Jack Barnes as director. The premise is well supported with evidence of misuse of authority. The writer’s argument also links well with his “call to action.” The Board should “do a legitimate search and…pick the best possible candidate.” That the Board should chose a more qualified, professional candidate is nicely underscored through the writer’s jab: “…not exacting revenge in a way that would have made Richard Nixon proud.”
Non-Daily Newspapers
Award of Excellence - Larry Van Guilder, Shopper-News, “The Ragsdale Reckoning”
Judge’s comment: Van Guilder’s commentary on the censure of Mayor Mike Ragsdale is well written, organized, and illustrated with his historical comparison to Churchill’s comment on Chamberlain’s Munich agreement and lead-in reference to country music singer Bill Anderson’s “Tip of My Fingers.” A first-rate, entertaining but sharp statement on the failings of the mayor and the county commission.
PERSONAL COLUMNS
Includes all signed opinion, humor and analysis/observation columns.
Daily Newspapers Over 25,000
Third place – Sam Venable, Knoxville News Sentinel, “One final present from W,” “No doubt they all love Lucy” and “A new year up in smoke”
Award of Merit – Greg Johnson, News Sentinel, for “The story beneath the surface of TVA,” “Trying to make sense of the senselessness” and “‘Outsiders Inn’ out of bounds in Appalachia”
Award of Excellence – J. Todd Foster, Bristol Herald Courier, for three columns titled “Thank you, Andrea Mitchell, for the ready-made column,” “Deep pangs but not regret about Deep Throat” and “Will GOP continue to isolate itself with vocal base?”
Judge’s comment: Powerful writing about racism and politics. The Deep Throat column was riveting.
Daily Newspapers Under 25,000
Third Place – Linda Braden Albert, The Daily Times, for these three pieces: “Dastardly crime,” “Gnome-napper” and “Changing Traditions”
Award of Merit – Steve Wildsmith, The Daily Times, for these three columns: “An open letter,” ” Snapshots” and “Leaving life”
Award of Excellence – Amanda Greever, The Daily Times, for columns titled “Gay marriage,” “Being a woman” and “Swiftly changing”
Judge’s comments: “Swiftly changing society” is the best of three superior opinion columns. Greever entices readers into her columns with very brief, personal statements. Decently quickly she moves into a general issue-”society is changing swiftly,” the hard work women put into being “nice, classy.” Greever is very good at discussing big issues such as gun violence in schools or churches in a way that helps readers think.
Non-Daily Newspapers
Award of Merit – Charlotte Underwood, LaFollette Press, for a piece titled “Looking out”
Award of Excellence – Jack Neely, Metro Pulse, “Secret History”
Judge’s comment: Writer is able to weave a narrative that links past to present. Kudos.
REVIEWS/CRITICISM
Includes movie, theatre, music, book, restaurant and other reviews.
Daily Newspapers Over 25,000
Award of Excellence – J. Todd Foster, Bristol Herald Courier, for three columns: “Religulous,” “Role models” and “Four Christmases”
Daily Newspapers Under 25,000
Award of Merit – Timothy S. Hankins, The Daily Times, for “Tim’s Take”
Award of Excellence – Steve Wildsmith, The Daily Times, for “50 Acres of Pain,” “Rainbrella” and “The year in Music”
Judge’s comment: Enjoyable and well-paced writing style that largely avoids first person and rarely dips into cliché. Nice!
Non-Daily Newspaper All three awards to Metro Pulse
Third Place goes to The Gourmet Nose
Award of Merit goes to Kieron Barry for “Backstage”
Coury Turczyn wins the Award of Excellence for “Movies”
Judge’s comment: Nice, entertaining writing style.
HEADLINES
In this category judges look for the use of alliteration, play on words, humor or other devices to attract readers. Entry must include three samples and the story for each headline. The headline category is not divided into separate competitions according to circulation.
Honorable mention – Robert Norris, The Daily Times and Jamie Bumpus, News Sentinel.
Third place – Jamie Bumpus, News Sentinel, “Clouding the issue,” “A paraffin idol” and “UT students step up”
Award of Merit -Donna Cruze, News Sentinel, “DNA test serves as stool pigeon,” “Summertime and the living is wheezy” and “(a) Pass them. (b) Fail them. (c) Worry.”
Award of Excellence – Donna Cruze, News Sentinel, “Knock, knock,” “Later, lattes” and “The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit”
Judge’s comment: Clever. They grab attention, and they lead the reader into the stories.
PAGE ONE DESIGN
Entrants submitted three front pages.
Daily Newspapers Over 25,000
Third Place – Jennifer Dedman, Knoxville News Sentinel
Award of Merit — Melanie Horton, News Sentinel
Award of Excellence – Jennifer Dedman, Melanie Horton, Amanda Martin and Dan Proctor, the News Sentinel
Judge’s comment: Designs were easy for readers to navigate through. Every column inch of page provided information nicely displayed.
Daily Newspapers Under 25,000
Award of Merit – Amanda Greever, The Daily Times
Award of Excellence – Judge’s comment: Design entry is reader-friendly. Dominant art displayed well. G. Alan Sieve and Richard Dodson, The Daily Times
Non-Daily newspapers
Honorable mention – Tessa Bright, Blount Today
Award of Excellence – Art Department, Shopper-News Now
Judge’s comment: Great design; clean and well organized. Interesting integration of nameplate and promos of inside content.
INSIDE PAGE DESIGN
Entrants submit three inside pages or section fronts.
Daily Newspapers Over 25,000
Award of Merit – Amanda Martin of the News Sentinel.
The Award of Excellence goes to David Goddard, also of the News Sentinel
Judge’s comment: The three sports section fronts have good, clean design. There are different elements and use of color but a consistency that readers like. Inside pages continue good design.
Daily Newspapers Under 25,000
Award of Merit – Amanda Greever of The Daily Times
Non-Daily newspapers
Award of Excellence – Art Department, Shopper-News Now
Judge’s comment: “The Jan. 28 page featuring “Moms 101″ has good, clean design. Use of art and color is effective.” But the judge did not like the paste-on cutlines on other two pages. The award of excellence was won by the Art Department of Shopper-News Now.
INFORMATIONAL GRAPHIC – Newspapers
All circulation groups compete in the same division in this category, and the Cincinnati judges made only one award this year.
Dan Proctor of the News Sentinel wins the Award of Excellence for his graphics concerning the TVUUC shootings.
Judge’s comment: Effective storytelling in limited space. Kudos!
ART ILLUSTRATION
Drawings, paintings or other media used to illustrate a story or enhance a page.
Award of Merit – Don Wood, of the News Sentinel for “Electrified Future”
Award of Excellence – Beck Towery, Chattanooga Times Free Press, “The best fit”
Judge’s comment: The combination of Volkswagen medallion and map of Chattanooga effectively tells the story of the automaker coming in the area. Illustration is attractive and well executed.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION
Any “created” photo used to illustrate a story or enhance a page
For the second consecutive year, the Award of Excellence is won by Rey Pineda of the Knoxville News Sentinel
Judge’s comment: Superimposing a clock face on a housing construction site makes the point of the article it illustrates: Longevity of housing components is important.
DEADLINE PHOTOGRAPHY
Daily Newspapers Over 25,000
Only one award was made in this category:
Award of Excellence – David Crigger and Andre Teague, Bristol Herald Courier
Judge’s comments: Pictures effectively capture drama of a multiple murder. Teague got low enough to get a publishable picture of two bodies covered by plastic sheeting that’s being lifted by the wind.
Daily Newspapers Under 25,000
Third Place – Joy Kimbrough, The Daily Times, “Tale of sorrow and loss”
Award of Merit -Mark A. Large, The Daily Times, “Freak accident fatal”
Award of Excellence – Daryl Sullivan, The Daily Times, “Total Loss”
Judge’s comment: Sullivan captured the collapse of an historic building as four firefighters observe/battle flames that destroy the structure. Great composition balances brightness of flames and illumination of reflective strips on firefighters’ uniforms.
Non-daily newspapers
Third place goes to – Dwane Wilder, LaFollette Press, “Cougars Maul Bears”
Award of Merit – Susan Sharp, LaFollette Press, “A Helping Hand”
Award of Excellence -Ruth White, Shopper-News Now, “The day after”
Judge’s comment: Ruth White has a great talent for capturing emotion of the moment.
FEATURE PHOTOGRAPHY
Daily Newspapers Over 25,000
Honorable mention – Michael Patrick, Knoxville News Sentinel, “Sister’s Love”
Third place – Earl Neikirk, Bristol Herald Courier, for a photo of a miniature burro showing affection for her mother.
Award of Excellence – Earl Neikirk, Bristol Herald Courier, for “Fishin’ in the Fog.”
Judge’s comment: Neikirk’s shot of a fisherman is almost monochromatic. It’s moody, well composed and properly displayed.
Daily Newspapers Under 25,000
Honorable mention – Joy Kimbrough, The Daily Times, for “Finally Home”
Third place – Tom Sherlin, The Daily Times, for “Bitter end”
Award of Merit -Joyce Kimbrough, The Daily Times, for “Time to Say Goodbye”
Award of Excellence -Daryl Sullivan, The Daily Times, “Flying High”
Judge’s comment: Fifteen dance students fill the background behind and under a ballet dancer’s splits in the air in a dance demonstration.
Non-Daily Newspapers
Award of Merit – Natasha Lafayette, LaFollette Press, “Time for Payback”
Award of Excellence – Judge’s comment: Very funny shot! Captures the essence of having a snow day. Jennifer Caldwell, LaFollette Press, “Snowflakes, sniffles close schools”
EDITORIAL CARTOON - All Newspapers
The judges made only one award in this category. The Award of Excellence goes to Dan Proctor, News Sentinel, for “Cuts”
Judge’s comment: Clever use of university PR logo for telling editorial cartoon.
WORK FOR OTHER MEDIA
This category is for all other journalism-related work produced by an East Tennessee journalist that is not eligible for any of the preceding categories.
For his book “Knoxville in the Vietnam Era,” Ed Hooper of Knoxville wins an Award of Excellence
Judge’s comments – While this is the only entry in this category, it certainly would be a contender because it is so well written and purposeful. It also is an excellent example of Arcadia Books, a genre with which I am familiar.
OVERALL WEB SITE
Entrants submit the URL of the site and a letter explaining how the entry makes best use of the medium. They describe how the site is used and special features. Judging criteria will include content, construction, ease of navigation, interactive participation, design and aesthetics.
Honorable mention – Jacob Jost and the 10 News Team, wbir.com
Third – Eyewitness News Team, WRCBtv.com in Chattanooga
Award of Merit – knoxnews.com, the Knoxville News Sentinel
Award of Excellence – Judge’s comment: Great layout, colors, graphics. Large changing slideshow pulls you in, and great, entertaining content keeps you there. knoxville.com from the News Sentinel
ONLINE REPORTING – Continuing Coverage
Award of Merit – Talid Magdy, News Sentinel, “Blue Plate Special”
Award of Excellence – Judge’s comment: You have it all from day one and on-the reporting, 911 calls, documents, etc. You gave the reader more every day and brought people back each day with your continuing coverage.
Staff of the Bristol Herald Courier and TriCities.com for “High Rise Horror: The Bristol Shootings”
ONLINE REPORTING – Multimedia
Use of photos, galleries, video and/or audio to enhance original story
Third – Jessica Stith, The Daily Times, “BCSO: Take Control”
Award of Merit -Beck Towery, Chattanooga Times Free Press, “Age old rivals”
Award of Excellence – Judge’s comments: Not only did you give the reader a video, but gave a sample of each musician and did so in a user-friendly way. Great job! Lauren Spuhler, Morgan Simmons and knoxnews.com, News Sentinel, Knoxville, “Songs of Appalachia,” which ran from January through December 2008.
HORACE V. WELLS, JR. Community Service Award
This award, named for one of the strongest editorial voices and community consciences in Tennessee journalism history, recognizes journalism that has an impact on the community. Entries may be a single story or series of stories and may include editorials.
This year the Horace V. Wells Jr. Community Service Award goes to Matt Shafer Powell of WUOT-FM for “My Vote. My Life.”
Golden Press Card Award
And LAST but not LEAST, is the Best of Show Award, THE Golden Press Card Award. This award is given as the BEST among all the Awards of Excellence winners in ALL Categories.
Ed Hooper’s Knoxville in the Vietnam Era wins the Golden Press Card Award. Ed, who lives in Knoxville, is a former television and newspaper journalist and a prolific award-winning historian. This is his third book (so far) on Knoxville. It focuses on Knoxville from 1961 to 1975, when there was tremendous growth in the city, but also turbulence. Ed served as ETSPJ president in 2005 and 2006. This award comes with a check for $100.
Congratulations to all the winners and many thanks to all who entered!
[Updated 5/15/09]
