Tidbits

Two KR Papers Named Finalists in 2006 Gerald Loeb Awards

The Lexington Herald-Leader and San Jose Mercury News are finalists in the 2006 Gerald Loeb Awards for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism sponsored by the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

The Loeb Awards, the highest honor in business journalism, recognize writers, editors and producers of print and broadcast media for significant contributions to business, financial and economic journalism.

Janet Patton of the Lexington Herald is a finalist in the small newspapers category (circulation of less than 150,000) for Wrong Side of the Track.

Therese Poletti, Dean Takahashi, Nicole C. Wong, John Boudreau, Mike Cassidy, Michelle Quinn, Sam Diaz and Mike Langberg of the San Jose Mercury News are finalists in the deadline writing category for Why Fiorina Was Ousted.

Winners are selected based on quality of reporting and writing, news and analytical value, originality and exclusivity. Winners will be announced June 26.

Tom Eblen, managing editor of the Lexington Herald-Leader and Jon Fortt, senior Web editor for the San Jose Mercury News, were elected to the Associated Press Managing Editors board of directors.

Kim Moy, Channel Manager for Knight Ridder Digital, was one of 10 people across the country to complete a New Media Fellowship with the Newspaper Association of America. The fellowship focuses on training women and people of color as digital media leaders through strategic-oriented development and provides insight and industry understanding to help them build business acumen through hands-on, comprehensive business projects.

Best In Business Awards
Knight Ridder newspapers honored in the Society of American Business Editors and Writers 12th annual Best in Business contest are:

Overall Excellence
The Philadelphia Inquirer (circulation 375,001 and above)

The Kansas City Star (circulation 250,001 and 375,000)

San Jose Mercury News (circulation 250,001 and 375,000)

The (Columbia) State (circulation 125,000 and below)

Breaking News
San Jose Mercury News (circulation 250,001 and 375,000)
Therese Poletti, Dean Takahashi, Nicole C. Wong, Michelle Quinn,
John Boodreau, Mike Langberg, Mike Cassidy, Sam Diaz, Donna Alvarado, Todd Woody and Vindu Goel for Why Fiorina was Ousted.

The (Bradenton) Herald (circulation 125,000 and below)
Tilde Herrera and Dana Sachez for Brasota.

Special Projects
The Charlotte Observer (circulation between 125,001 and 250,000)
Binyamin Appelbaum, Ted Mellnik and Rick Rothacker for
The Hard Truth in Lending.

Lexington Herald-Leader (circulation 125,000 and below)
Janet Patton for Wrong Side of the Track.

John Stamper, Bill Estep and Linda Blackford for
Win, Lose or Draw: Gambling for Jobs.

Columns
Mitch Schnurman, Fort Worth Star-Telegram (circulation 250,001 and 375,000)

Mike Langberg, San Jose Mercury News (circulation 250,001 and 375,000)

Amy Baldwin, The Charlotte Observer (circulation between 125,001 and 250,000)

Susan Miller, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer (circulation 125,000 and below)

Awards

Akron Beacon Journal artist Dennis Balogh won first place in the NABJ Salute to Excellence Competition in the Newspaper Art & Design category for Cleveland – City of Jazz.

Contra Costa Times reporter John Simerman won the 2006 Jesse Laventhol prize for Deadline News Reporting by an Individual from the American Society of Newspaper Editors.

The Contra Costa Times also won a First Amendment Award from the Associated Press Managing Editors association for its series, Open Records, Closed Doors, which surveyed access to records at more than 100 government offices and police departments. The newspaper went to court to win release of names and salaries of Oakland city employees, setting a standard in the state’s public records law. Two weeks after publication of the series, the newspaper sponsored a community forum on records access.

The Society of Professional Journalists recognized San Jose Mercury News reporters Barry Witt and Dion Nissenbaum in its 2005 competition.
Witt was honored in the journalism category for using the California Public Records Act to obtain e-mails and memos detailing internal discussions between the mayor of San Jose and the city manager’s staff regarding a secret deal for garbage disposal. The Mercury News published copies of all relevant e-mails and memos in the newspaper and on its Web site. The mayor was censured for misleading the public and soon afterward the city manager was forced to resign.

Also honored for journalism was Dion Nissenbaum for discovering the existence of the California National Guard Information Synchronization, Knowledge Management and Intelligence Fusion program. He obtained documentary evidence that the unit was tracking protesters at an anti-war rally. The National Guard denied it and covered its tracks at the same time. Members of Congress and the state Legislature became so concerned that the state might be spying on innocent civilians that the program was dismantled within six months of when the first story appeared in print.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram captured the only Triple Crown for over-250,000 circulation newspapers in judging by the Associated Press Sports Editors. The Star-Telegram won Top 10 honors in three categories: daily, Sunday and special section. In the writing portion of the contest, The Kansas City Star led all big-circulation papers with seven Top 10 finishes.

The (Biloxi) Sun Herald and Knight Ridder Digital won first place in online journalism in the National Headliners Awards sponsored by The Press Club of Atlantic City, N.J., for coverage of Hurricane Katrina. The Sun Herald was also honored with a 2005 Sigma Delta Chi Award for Public Service in Online Journalism from the Society of Professional Journalists.

National Headliner Awards
The (Biloxi) Sun Herald and Knight Ridder Digital won first place for online journalism category in the National Headliner Awards sponsored by The Press Club of Atlantic City. The staff was honored for its Hurricane Katrina coverage. The Sun Herald was also awarded second place in spot news for Our Tsunami.

At The Miami Herald, Debbie Cenziper won first place in health/medical/science writing for Blind Eye, a four-part investigative report that exposed faulty equipment and breakdowns in research that thwarted hurricane predictions. Television critic Glenn Garvin took first place in special or feature column writing for an article on Over There, the FX TV series about the Iraq war, and reviews of several other shows. Columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. won third place in local column writing.

Knight Ridder’s Washington Bureau won third place in a special hurricane coverage category.

Kansas City Star photographer Shane Keyser took first place in sports photography for Wizards Choke.

Philadelphia Inquirer photographer Peter Tobia won third place in feature photography for Surreal Thing.

Stephanie Grace Lim of the San Jose Mercury News won third place for illustrative graphics.

Miami Herald Wins Green Eyeshade Awards
The Miami Herald captured seven awards for journalistic excellence from the Society of Professional Journalists, including four first-place wins.

The Green Eyeshade awards honor professional journalists in 11 southeastern states, including Florida, Georgia, Alabama and the Carolinas.

First-place honors went to:

• Leonard Pitts Jr. took top honors in two categories, serious commentary and feature writing, for Sad Songs in Hell.
  
• Debbie Cenziper won first place in non-deadline reporting for the investigative project Blind Eye.
  
• Glenn Garvin won first place for television criticism.
  Second-place awards went to Ana Menendez for serious commentary and Greg Cote for sports commentary.
  

Marice Cohn Band took third place in photography for Land Mines: A legacy of Latin America’s Wars.