News wins 44 journalism awards
 Paper is recognized as best in the state at annual banquet
 
By Deborah Ramsay
Deseret Morning News
 
The Utah Headliners Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists awarded the Deseret Morning News 44 awards during the chapter's banquet Friday night, including Best Newspaper, Best News-Oriented Web Site and 10 other first-place awards.

The awards, including the prestigious Clifford P. Cheney Service to Journalism recognition, went to a former editor, reporters, photographers and artists — including sweeps in the categories of feature photography and art and illustration of a Web site.

The Deseret Morning News was recognized as the top newspaper in Utah with a good mix of local and national news coverage of socially relevant topics as well as its use of design and graphics.

Former Deseret Morning News Editor John Hughes was this year's recipient of the Clifford P. Cheney Service to Journalism Award. Hughes, who is now teaching journalism at BYU, stepped down from the Deseret Morning News in 2006. During his journalism career, he also has worked as a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, editor and publisher of the Christian Science Monitor and served in various federal government positions. He was recognized for his example of excellence and his commitment to First Amendment rights for journalists.

Joe Bauman won a second-place award as best newspaper reporter for his "fascinating" human-interest stories. Dennis Romboy received an honorable mention in that category.

The Deseret Morning News crime team, made up of reporters Nancy Perkins, Pat Reavy and Ben Winslow, was recognized for its coverage of polygamist Warren Jeffs' arrest. The article "Jeffs in Nevada jail" won first place for spot news. Ben Winslow and Wendy Leonard won third place in the category for "Destiny's body found in S.L.," and honorable mention went to Doug Smeath, Jennifer Nii and Nicole Warburton for "Downtown rebound."

The first-place award for continuing coverage went to Lee Davidson and Bob Bernick Jr. for their story "Money in politics." Lois Collins received third place for "Separating conjoined twins."

In the series category, Lucinda Dillon Kinkead and Dennis Romboy were awarded first place for their series titled, "Teen suicide: Utah's grim reality."

Dennis Lythgoe placed first in the category of review/criticism for his story, "Mormon author has made peace." Dave Gagon received second place for his review, "Abstract observation."

For criminal justice reporting, Linda Thomson placed third with her story, "Davis duo dodged death-penalty case."

Awards for consumer reporting went to Davidson, third place, for "Is purchase, return, renewal scam?" and honorable mention went to Dave Anderton for "Credit card truth is in fine print."

Education reporting awards went to Erin Stewart, second place, for "College-bound and coming up short," and third went to Elaine Jarvik for "Journey of the mind."

Government reporting honorable mention went to Davidson for "Taxes due."

The first-place award for medical/science reporting went to Morning News reporters Collins and Jarvik for their story, "Still Lisa."

Davidson received second place for his story, "Hill sells unsanitized surplus" in the military reporting category.

The third-place award for minority issues reporting went to Deborah Bulkeley for "Utah plant caught in immigration."

The first-place award for religion/values reporting went to Jarvik for her story, "Signs: Gifts from the dead." Susan Whitney received third for her report on "The Gospel of Judas."

In the category of sports reporting, Lee Benson placed third for "Ligety-split," and honorable mention went to Mike Sorensen for "S.L. teen finally wins state Am championship."

For editorial awards, third place went to Jerry Johnston for "Pancho Villa rides again" and honorable mention to Marjorie Cortez for "Angelos sentence unjust."

Opinion-column third-place award went to Benson for "Mexicans migrate to their island" and honorable mention to Doug Robinson for "Losers had a theme: arrogance."

Page design front page honorable mention went to Heidi Perry and Ray Boren for "Until Freedom Prevails."

Page design feature page second-place award went to Robert Noyce for "San Francisco Earthquake." John Clark received honorable mention for "Fast Track."

Reporters Kinkead, Romboy and Anderton received first place in the general news category for "Refiner's fire." Honorable mention went to Davidson for his story, "Taxes as loans."

The feature photography sweep went to Laura Seitz, first place for "Herrin twins," second place to Michael Brandy for "To war," third place to Seitz for "Horse move" and honorable mention to Keith Johnson for "Jingle dancers."

Photo essay first-place award went to Seitz for her photos to accompany "Still Lisa."

Sport's photography second-place award went to Scott Winterton for "Hold on" and third place to Jeffery Allred for "Save."

The Deseret Morning News Web site received the Best News-Oriented Web Site Award for its appealing layout showcasing the main art and the ability for readers to distinguish updated stories from holdovers from the paper edition.

The awards for Web site art and illustration were first place to Noyce for "Lafayette Escadrille," second to Clark for "Window shopping on the Web" and third to Lou Ann Heller for "Utah's game fish: Bluegill."

E-mail: dramsay@desnews.com
 
deseretnews.com
Originally published Saturday, June 16, 2007
 
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