June 13th, 2011 Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Atlanta Press Club congratulates its 2010 Award of Excellence and Journalists of the Year winners. Atlanta area journalists gathered to celebrate the work of their colleagues at The Atlanta Press Club on June 9 for the 2010 Awards of Excellence and Journalist of the Year Reception. Winners were recognized in 11 different categories for their outstanding reporting in 2010. The winners, and their submitted work are as follows:
Print News, Large Circulation:
· Alan Judd and Heather Vogell of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, for their investigative reporting on the Atlanta public school’s cheating scandal.
Print Feature, Large Circulation:
· Bill Rankin of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, for his story on a 64-year-old woman who becomes pen pals with a man in prison for murder.
Print News, Small Circulation:
· R. Robin McDonald of The Daily Report, for her work on how the state investigates and disciplines judges who break the law.
Television News, Local:
· Dale Russell of WAGA-TV, for his breaking news story on the sexual misconduct of Bishop Eddie Long; and for his investigative reporting into a D.O.T project to widen a road that went through then-Governor Sonny Perdue’s hometown.
Television Feature, Local:
· Dana Fowle of WAGA-TV, for her story on a minister exploiting the poor with the unlawful business practices so he could refinance his home.
Television News, National:
· David Mattingly of CNN, for his coverage of the Gulf oil spill. He was one of the first in cable news to challenge BP CEO, Tony Hayward, on his future plans to stop the spill as well as to show the dangers it was causing. He also showed how the spill was affecting ocean wildlife.
Radio:
· Jim Burress of WABE Radio, for his reporting on the Atlanta police department’s botched raid on a gay bar in midtown; and the constitutionality of roadblocks.
Online/Multimedia News:
- Peter Prengaman of The Associated Press, for his reporting, producing, and editing of stories including the Haiti earthquake, the West Virginia mine explosion, and the Gulf oil spill.
Online/Multimedia Feature:
· Chandra Thomas of TheGrio.com, for her series on the 5th Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. She focused on the rebuilding efforts for Pontchartrain Park, the oldest African-American planned community, and where she and her family lived.
Photojournalism:
- John Spink of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, for his photos that capture important events in the city. These include that of a grieving wife after her husband had been shot and killed, of a firefighter surrounded in flames, and people protesting the end of the C-Tran bus service in Clayton County.
Opinion:
· Ann Woolner of Bloomberg Businessweek, for her columns discussing what happens when politics and law meet. She dealt with issues such as legalizing gay marriage and a how one man’s home was foreclosed, even though he didn’t owe a mortgage on it.
***The Journalist of the Year Award was given to Alan Judd and Heather Vogell of Atlanta Journal-Constitution for their reporting on the CRCT cheating scandal. In their acceptance speech, these two journalists expressed their gratitude to the A.J.C. and showed their constant determination to write a great story. We even found out that Heather Vogell was texting information to Judd as developments on the story were breaking…while in labor! Judd and Vogell will split a $1,000 prize from the Atlanta Press Club.
This display of outstanding journalism shows that the long hours and hard work put forth to produce a great story, column or photo, do indeed pay off.