News-Record.com

News writing
Judge: Jacqui Banaszynski, the Knight Chair in Editing at the Missouri School of Journalism and of the Poynter Institute

First place: Jason Hardin
Judge's comments: Well, shoot. I want to drive straight to the desert and lay on my back and look at the stars while I still can. Maybe I'll shoot out the lights of a few soccer fields along the way. I want to stand on the sidelines holding a stopwatch -- and my breath -- as footless Ken Leonard races to make the police exam. I want to buy a flat of strawberries from John Handler, throw my toilet brick at the guy stealing water and pass on the Haggis.

No matter what Jason Hardin wrote about -- the future of the Triad in a diaper??? -- he introduced me to a place and its people, and taught me about the issues of the day. This isn't "news" in the narrow, traditional sense of What Happened Yesterday. It is news in the deep and broad sense of What's Happening Now in People's Lives. Hardin's writing shows he looks hard at things, notices nuance a lot of reporters miss and then shares it all with me as if we're having a beer. He uses pacing, metaphor, revelatory detail -- and backs it all up with authoritative reporting. His reporting takes readers beyond the phone Q&A and out into the world, where the good stuff happens.

I'd love to see him bringing even more of his brand of seeing the world to serious issues and breaking news events that have the more traditional definition of news. It might give more readers a doorway to the societal rooms we all should continue to share. Meanwhile, I'm going to pray for rain.

Runner-up: Jim Schlosser
Judge's comments: Jim Schlosser manages to make history now, and to give now a history. His history-based pieces all managed to teach me something about a current debate or issue. His current pieces all were grounded in deep context and sense of place. That's no small feat in an era where much of what passes for journalism is just info-bits thrown at the Web site with no sense of where they came from or what they add up to.

Some of what Schlosser tackles might fall more typically into a "features" definition. But he also wrote about business and development and civic issues in a way that wrapped in the news but gave them the grace of features. And, like Hardin, he wove a strong sense of place in all his work, which is essential to a news organization that is based in place. And, like Schlosser, this kind of thinking and writing could make more traditional news stories reach they don't typically have.

His stories help me see the world not just through the prism of reacting to the moment, but through a longer lens of time and place. He took seemingly small stories and gave them significance. He wrote yet one more story about yet one more soldier killed in Iraq and made me care.

Feature writing
Judge: Aly Colon of the Poynter Institute

First place: Jeri Rowe
Judge's comments: Jeri Rowe's reporting and writing clearly embody the elements set forth in the criteria for the Landmark Writing & Reporting Awards. His "Trust Funk" series serves as an example of such award-winning work.

In that series, Rowe displayed journalistic initiative by building upon a creative suggestion by his editor. He overcame research and organizational obstacles that come with a topic of that has no boundaries, or discernable structure.

He went beyond accumulating facts. He explored what resides in people's minds. He tapped into an emotional landscape, and didn't simply record what was evident in the structure of institutions. Rowe sought out a variety of perspectives from a wide range of subjects in an effort to be thorough.

His language conveys clarity and style. He noted, for example, in the opening part of the series that "We in Greensboro exist in a political world of finger-pointing campaigns and perceived conspiracies." With a few deft words, Rowe also uses imagery to capture an how young people can think about a place, as he did in "Shifting Demographics" where he wrote: "They saw Greensboro as simply a few sentences in their own life story."

In his series, as in his columns, Rowe looks not only for what we see and hear, but that which has yet to be seen and heard. His work this year, especially his series, should be an encouragement to other journalists to take chances and chart new paths in reporting that goes beyond the obvious.

Runner-up: Tina Firesheets
Judge's comments: What sets Tina Firesheets stories apart from other reporting efforts involves her willingness to explore new worlds and take her readers there. She overcomes obstacles of foreign languages and cultural differences as she navigates her way through stories often known only to the community that live them.

Her "quinceanera" story introduced us to Natalie De La Paz as she formally emerges into the local Mexican society as a young lady. Firesheets captures the significance of the event in a number of ways, one of them being through her descriptions of De La Paz's dress: "Her long, baby-blue dress swishes just inches off the ground as she runs to find her parents. The silvery embellishments catch the sunlight, making it sparkle."

In her stories about Cambodians and refugees from Burma (Myanmar), she shows the initiative necessary to penetrate different worlds. She describes them colorfully enough to see the "Thai eggplants the size of cherry tomatoes, purplish Japanese yams and lime-scented kefir leaves."

Firesheets brings her ability to spot the interesting in the obvious in such stories as "Losers and Winners" and "A whole lot of cheatin’ going on." In three crisp words, she captures another way to describe the month of February: "It's cheatin' season." And in "Maw Maw's Place," she draws the reader in by simply noting that "On Friday night, everyone goes to Maw Maw's house…After school. Before basketball practice. After piano lessons."

Firesheets exposes readers to interesting people in clear, descriptive language that offers a holistic view of worlds and people that often remain only known in sliver-like ways.

Honorable Mention: Dawn Kane
Judge's comments: I know there is not designation for Honorable Mention, but I wanted to note that I find Dawn Kane's language compelling and captivating. I like the crisp, concise construction of her leads. They capture the essence of the story immediately.

In "Class of '63," she opens with "It began with a photograph." In "Leaving a legacy," she started with "You might recognize his work. But you probably don't know his name." Or in a "New Kind of Hotel Art," she quips: "Dennis Quaintance needed art. Lots of it."

In her stories, Kane shows a flair for fine, descriptive writing that brings the most mundane stories to life.

Sports writing
Judge: Dan Uthman, deputy sports editor at The Washington Post.

First place: Robert Bell
Judge's comments: In the majority of cases, the best stories start with the best ideas. And this reporter has great ideas and takes different perspectives that get to the core of what people are thinking and talking about. Often what they're thinking and talking about aren't intended for the news, but this reporter doesn't accept that. In pieces on local swim championships and rampant transfers between high schools, he really captured the pulse in a way that we don't see enough in this business. He also showed the ability to turn a nice feature, whether chronicling the ups and downs of Kay Yow, capturing the magnitude of a signature on a letter of intent or writing a bright and breezy take on the mindset of homecoming games.

Runner up: Rob Daniels
Judge's comments: This reporter did the single best story I read, an expose on basketball entrepreneur Kenny Drummond. He takes smart approaches to stories and offers a witty undertone when appropriate. He writes with authority on every topic he tackles, and many of those topics are ones that are in need of the light he shines upon them.

Copy editing
Judge: Andy Bechtel, UNC prof

First place: Rheta Whittington
Judge's comments: This is an outstanding portfolio of headlines and cutlines. Whittington has a real flair for wordplay, and she uses that talent wisely. She doesn't go for the easy pun or over-the-top alliteration that can make readers groan. Instead, she is able to create unexpected turns of phrases that amuse and inform. It's additionally impressive that she uses these skills in both news (Santa Paws: Pets get presents too) and features settings (Dressed/to/Kilt) as well as with opinion pieces (Less fright/more flirt: A trend for Halloween.) Her work is a joy to read.

Runner up: Melissa Turner
Judge's comments: This is a strong collection of headlines and cutlines. Turner knows how to write a headline that matches the tone of the story she's editing, as shown in the news story "She gets the car, he gets the house. Who gets Fluffy?" Her front-page headline package on light pollution is also effective, with "Dark side of light" set in reverse type. Turner also knows that dropheads can help clarify and elaborate headlines like that one and the "Smoke on the water" head on the boat story. It's also heartening to see her willingness to collaborate with designers and illustrators, as she did with the backpack story.

Design
Judge: Paul Nelson, presentation director of The Virginian-Pilot

First place: Melissa Umbarger
Judge's comments: It's clear this designer puts a lot of thought into her pages. She identifies what the reader needs to know and then figures out a way to communicate it and visually sell the story at the same time. These pages exhibit a range of design approaches, all handled very well, for creating interesting, enticing pages.

Her pages all have dominant packages and each demonstrates good command of typography, scale and contrast. When faced with the challenge of a lede sports story that lent itself to mug shots and a newsfeature package with a dominant photo, she created a hierarchy in which one story complemented the other and each had the space it needed. For a Page 1 lede, she played three small portraits identically and packaged them with information about each person.

And this designer maintains her efforts aren't confined to section fronts. She makes good use of white space to ensure a text-heavy jump page on gangs is inviting for readers. The spread on the man with the movie "palace" in his basement not only offers a cool shot of the place, but plenty of detail images to complete the story.

Lastly, this designer is resourceful: She used a photo from CDC Web site to illustrate one story. She got some actual acorns for another. She built a lede package based on alphabet blocks from a long-ago project. Excellent work.

Runner-up: Jennifer Burton
Judge's comments: This designer thrives when she doesn't have photography to work with. Many of her pages are based on illustrations, some done on deadline, some done with planning. All were relatively simple, but at the same time demonstrate how simple ideas cna lead to strong presentations.

She developed and executed lede illustrations on the early daylight-saving time change, wage disparities and music downloads. And she's not afraid to take risks. The headline approach -- integrating text and iconic images -- on Americans' hibits was tough to pull off, but she did it and created a fun component for an interesting story.

And when she did have photography, she made the most of it, creating a dominant information-packed lede package on the planned sale of a shopping center in one case and in another, letting the photos tell the story of the slow food movement.

Graphics -- Artists from other Landmark papers -- The Virginian-Pilot and The Roanoke Times -- also participate in this contest.
Judge: Martin Gee of the San Jose Mercury News.

Runner-up: Margaret Baxter
Judge's comments: There was so much to look at in Margaret Baxter's work. I could get lost in her illustrations. I particularly enjoyed the "Goddess Guide" illustration where there was so much to explore and discover. i even noticed the same butterfly in another illustration. My favorite page was "Build a Rain Garden" where she combined and blurred the lines between design, illustration and graphics. Her style fit perfectly. I don't even have a yard and I read every work of this.

The Schlosser Award, named after retired reporter Jim Schlosser
The award recognizes a person who "has displayed, day in and day out, an intense curiosity, a depth of understanding, and an enterprising drive to discover unique and significant stories."

The winner: Doug Clark
Allen Johnson's comments:
1. Doug has played a key role in our efforts to become a more active and involved community leader -- to not only to identify community problems but to help solve them. He inspired, conceived and planned the News & Record's One Guilford leadership symposium series at High Point University last May and Guilford College in October. He convened a cross-departmental team to brainstorm ideas and determine themes, programs and speakers. He touched bases with staff and leaders at the sponsoring institutions. He also wrote a pair of Ideas centerpieces and a series of editorials related to the initiative.

2. In the editorial department's coverage of the crucial 2007 city election, he took on the mayor's race as his main beat and provided thoughtful analysis of the candidates and the issues. He seized the initiative to attend nearly every local candidate forum, as well as both News & Record town hall meetings on election issues.

3. He is a highly productive and laser-quick editorial writer and columnist whose work is consistently accurate, logically reasoned, well-reported and well-written. He writes with confidence, clarity and authority. He routinely makes good points. He rarely makes mistakes.

4. He is a prolific, well-read blogger who blends wit, humor and a broad base of knowledge into his posts. He has a solid following and a respected voice on the Web.

5. He has been willing to venture into new media, including the editorial department’s Web-based video interview series, "Newsmaker."

6. And he is hard-working and team-spirited. He considers every task, no matter how large or small, worth doing right.