Five staff writers at The Columbian have won honors in the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Association’s C.B. Blethen Memorial Awards for Distinguished Newspaper Reporting. Awards were presented Thursday in Seattle.
Columbian writers received more first-place awards than any newspaper in the contest, which is open to daily newspapers in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Alberta and British Columbia. The writers won first place awards for investigative reporting, coverage of diversity and coverage of consumer affairs, and a second-place award for feature writing. Two of those first-place awards were won by Columbian reporters who had won top honors in the same categories last year.
In all, Columbian staffers won more awards than any similar-sized newspaper and the second most awards of newspapers regardless of circulation size.
“Reporters have always had a challenging job. Still, the position attracts some of the best and brightest,” said Columbian Editor Lou Brancaccio. “For The Columbian, these awards show we have the best of the best.”
Aaron Corvin and Amy M.E. Fischer won a first-place award among newspapers with a circulation of 50,000 or less for investigative reporting for the “Port of Secrecy” series that detailed the secretive process by which the Port of Vancouver handled a proposed oil terminal project.
The series included “Port in a Storm; The Port of Vancouver’s closed-door dealings on the proposed oil terminal reveal a pattern of keeping public in dark about critical issues” by Corvin on May 17; “Skids Greased for Oil Terminal Behind Closed Doors; Vancouver port agreed to negotiate exclusively with Tesoro, Savage before public heard a word about proposal” by Corvin on May 18; “Oil terminal lease unleashes a gusher of backlash; Port of Vancouver’s secretive handling of issue spurs calls for more transparent approach to making decisions, race for open board seat” by Corvin on May 19; “Port commissioners target of recall; Petitioner: Effort about failure to uphold public trust, not oil terminal” by Corvin on May 21; and “Port officials respond to series; Wolfe expresses ‘disappointment,’ Oliver shrugs it off” by Corvin and Fischer on May 22.
For the second year in a row, Scott Hewitt won a first-place award among newspapers with a circulation of 50,000 or less for distinguished coverage of diversity.
Hewitt was recognized for stories that focused on the region’s affordable housing crisis: “Courtyard Village Displacement — Scrambling for solutions; Advocates seek ways to help apartment complex residents forced to vacate by landlord” on Dec. 11, 2014; “More tenants ordered to vacate; ‘Heightened level of anger’ seen at Courtyard Village complex” on Jan. 8; “Too many ACEs up these kids’ sleeves” on Jan. 25; “Protecting Vulnerable Tenants — ‘Our housing market is broken’; Vancouver council looking at issues, possible solutions” on Feb. 23; and “Courtyard Village Apartments/Parc Central Complex displacement speeds up; Resource center official: Some elderly, disabled residents out of options” on April 27.
Hewitt and other Columbian staffers won top honors in that category last year for coverage of housing and the homeless.
For the second year in a row, Marissa Harshman won first place in the Debby Lowman Contest for Distinguished Reporting of Consumer Affairs. The competition involved newspapers of all sizes.
Harshman’s winning entry included “Take care cooking holiday turkey; Experts offer tips about food safety as Thanksgiving nears” on Nov. 23, 2014; “Preparing the body for baby; Doctors outline key steps women should follow before conceiving” on Jan. 26; “Shining light on sunscreen; Experts offer guidance on products essential to skin protection” on July 14; and “On the road to good summer health; Whether flying or traveling by car, local experts say general healthy living principles apply” on June 23.
Harshman also took top honors in the Debby Lowman contest in 2014 for stories written for The Columbian’s weekly Live Well health section.
Lauren Dake received a second-place award among newspapers with a circulation of 50,000 or less in feature writing for her story “Westley Allan Dodd: A Gruesome Anniversary; 25 years after he murdered 3 boys, his execution frames discussion of the death penalty’s future in Washington” on Aug. 31, 2014.
Reporters from daily newspapers that were members of the association were eligible to participate in the competition, which focused on stories published between May 1, 2014, and May 31, 2015. Other top award winners were staffers at The Seattle Times, with five awards total, and The Oregonian and Daily Herald of Everett, with three awards each.
The Blethen awards were established in 1977 in honor of C.B. Blethen, publisher of The Seattle Times from 1915 to 1941. The Debby Lowman Award for Distinguished Reporting of Consumer Affairs honors Debby Lowman, a Seattle Times consumer reporter who died of cancer in 1978.
