Journalists’ society fetes 2013 work; Columbian staffers receive 29 prizes

The Columbian won 29 awards, including second place for general excellence and first place in website design, for its staffers’ work in 2013 in a five-state competition organized by the Society of Professional Journalists.

Eight first-place awards were for Environment & Science Reporting, Business Column, Lifestyles Reporting, Sports Column, Editorial & Commentary, Portrait Photography, Sports Photography, and Best Web Design.

The Columbian competed with daily newspapers with a circulation of 25,001 to 65,000 in all categories except online, in which it competed against all news outlets in the region regardless of size.

The annual contest judged more than 1,800 entries from 269 news outlets in SPJ’s Region 10, which is Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington. Categories included daily newspapers, nondaily newspapers, alternative newsweeklies, magazines, television stations, radio, freelance reporters and websites.

The awards were announced Saturday at the SPJ Oregon and Southwest Washington Chapter’s annual banquet in Portland.

Here are the award winners in the 2013 SPJ Region 10 contest:

Environment & Science Reporting

• First place: Aaron Corvin and Erin Middlewood, “Uneasy neighbors.”
• Second place: Eric Florip, “A world of interest in St. Helens science.”

Business Column

• First place: Aaron Corvin, “Strictly Business” (June 16, Aug. 4, Sept. 8).
• Third place: Cami Joner, “Strictly Business,” (March 8; May 12; Dec. 8).

Lifestyles Reporting

• First place: Tom Vogt, “Lawn-ch of a Lifetime.”
• Third place: Marissa Harshman, “A hunger for food knowledge.”

Sports Column

• First place: Greg Jayne (Feb. 10; May 12; July 14).

Editorial and Commentary

• First place: John Laird, In Our View (March 8; May 3; July 11).

Portrait Photography

• First place: Troy Wayrynen, “Columbia River swimmer.”

Sports Photography

• First place: Troy Wayrynen, “Snowshoeing.”
• Third place: Zachary Kaufman, “Dunked.”

Best Web Design

• First place: The Columbian

General Excellence

• Second place: The Columbian.

Comprehensive Coverage

• Second place: Tyler Graf, “Travis & Mandy: A journey through addiction,”“Down a winding path” and “Paths to Sobriety diverge.”

Investigative Reporting

• Second place: Stevie Mathieu and Erin Middlewood, “Benton’s ballyhooed management experience is hazy.”
• Third place: Aaron Corvin, “Port of Vancouver open meetings law violations.”

Education Reporting

• Second place: Scott Hewitt, “Young learners cultivate stability.”

Business Reporting

• Second place: Aaron Corvin, “Nike recruitment efforts revealed.”

Short Feature Story

• Second place: Tom Vogt, “Photographer’s Parting Shots.”
• Third place: Tom Vogt, “Path to Pearl Harbor.”

Sports Feature Story

• Second place: Paul Valencia, “Blocking Cancer.”

General Column

• Second place: Greg Jayne, (Sept. 22; Oct. 20; Oct. 27)
• Third place: John Laird, (Jan. 20; Feb. 3; May 26)

Page Design

• Second place: Marsha Matta, (Feb. 3; Oct. 20; Dec. 29).

Headlines

Note: The headlines that appear in print sometimes differ from those that accompany a story online.

• Second place: Colleen Keller

  – June 16: The fashion police / Inmate clothes at Clark County Jail designed to denote threat level, be practical, save money

  – July 4: Mama Fran’s patriotic yarn / Woman crochets American flag afghans for service members, their families

– Aug. 10: Think prettying up a pig is easy? Hogwash! / Team effort required to make 4-H swine shine before competing at fair

– Aug. 22: Litterbugs infest local roadways / Vancouver spent more than $124,000 in 2012 cleaning up trash; few littering citations issued

– Sept. 30: Hit flu with your best shot / Local health officials urge residents to get protection now against illness

– Dec. 8: Give it to me straight / Vancouver barbershop’s straight razor shaves a relaxing treat designed just for men

– July 22: Tall tales of tall creatures fly like sparks at scientists’ campfire

– Dec. 25: When cold can be comfort / A big fridge makes a big difference in feeding a family without burning through budget

Government & Politics Reporting

• Third place: Tyler Graf, “Officials online learn new roles for chat.”

Personalities Reporting

• Third place: Tom Vogt, “Deep Respect.”

Photo Page, Story or Essay

• Third place: Troy Wayrynen, “Travis & Mandy: a journey through addiction.”