Awards Honor Best Statehouse Reporting

PHILADELPHIA – The Illinois statehouse press corps and Stateline.org were among the big winners Saturday night (Aug. 4) during an awards ceremony honoring the nation’s best statehouse journalism.

The awards – announced during the eighth annual meeting of Capitolbeat, a nationwide association of reporters and editors who cover state government – acknowledged excellence in newspaper, magazine, online, radio and television journalism focusing on state politics and policy.

News outlets from Illinois took home a combined 10 awards across seven categories, led by Illinois Issues magazine (four awards) and The State Journal-Register (three awards), both based in Springfield .

Reporters from the Chicago Tribune, WUIS/Illinois Public Radio and the Springfield bureau of The Associated Press rounded out the honors for the Illinois state press corps. Each organization picked up one award.

Stateline.org , meanwhile, fared better than any other single news organization in the awards ceremony, claiming seven total honors across four categories in online journalism.

Bruce Rushton, a staff writer with The State Journal-Register, won the prestigious John Aubuchon Freedom of Information Award for his six-part series exploring open-government laws in Illinois .

Barbara Peterson of the First Amendment Foundation of Florida, who judged Rushton’s stories, praised The State Journal-Register for giving the series prominence.

“The competition was fierce, but The State Journal-Register did something that I’ve not seen another newspaper do: It made access to government information a front-page story, above the fold, every day for an entire week,” Peterson said in her critique of the series.

Bethany Carson of Illinois Issues won three awards, including first-place honors for online beat reporting, which she shared with colleague Deanese Williams-Harris. Charles N. Wheeler III captured another first place for Illinois Issues for magazine commentary.

Amanda Vinicky of WUIS/Illinois Public Radio won first place for in-depth radio reporting.

Daniel C. Vock, a staff writer with Stateline.org , took home three awards, including first-place honors in the category of best single online report for his story ” Quick cancer mandate raises health concerns.”

Pamela M. Prah and Pauline Vu of Stateline.org each received a pair of second-place honors. Prah was acknowledged for online beat reporting and in-depth online reporting for her story ” 2006 is year of surpluses, social issues“; Vu was honored for best online commentary (shared with Vock) and best single online report for her story ” Lake Wobegon, U.S.A. – where all the children are above average.”

Christine Vestal of Stateline.org was awarded third-place honors for in-depth online reporting for her story ” States probe limits of abortion policy.”

The Northest News Network won four awards for radio reporting. Olympia , Wash. , correspondent Austin Jenkins took home first-place honors for best radio beat reporting and best single radio report, and won second place for in-depth radio reporting along with Salem. , Ore. , reporter Chris Lehman. Lehman also took third place for best single radio report.

Capitolbeat was founded in 1999 and has 250 members.

All Capitolbeat 2007 awards:

John Aubuchon Freedom of Information Award

Bruce Rushton, The State Journal-Register, Springfield , Ill. : ” Request Denied ”

Commentary, wire services and newspapers with more than 75,000 circulation

• First place: Sheryl Harris, The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio
• Second place: John Brummett, Arkansas News Bureau, Little Rock , Ark.
• Third place: Doug Lyons, The Sun-Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale , Fla.

Commentary, newspapers with less than 75,000 circulation and weeklies

• First place: Jonathan Rivoli, The Bismarck Tribune, Bismarck , N.D.
• Second place: Louis Jacobson, Roll Call, Washington , D.C.
• Third place: Bernard Schoenburg, The State Journal-Register, Springfield , Ill.

Commentary, magazines

• First place: Charles N. Wheeler III, Illinois Issues, Springfield , Ill.
• Second place: Bethany Carson, Illinois Issues, Springfield , Ill.

Commentary, television, markets 1 to 50

None

Commentary, television, markets 51 to 210

First place: Joan Cartan-Hansen, Idaho Public Television, ” Dialogue “

Commentary, radio

None

Commentary, online

• First place: Leslie Robinson, Colorado Confidential, Denver , Colo.
• Second place: Daniel C. Vock and Pauline Vu, Stateline.org , Washington , D.C.
• Third place: Derek N. Wallbank, Lansing State Journal, Lansing , Mich.

In-depth reporting, wire services and newspapers with more than 75,000 circulation

• First place: Megan O’Matz and John Maines, The Sun-Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale , Fla. , ” License to carry “
• Second place: Michelle Breidenbach and Mike McAndrew, The Post-Standard, Syracuse , N.Y. , ” New York’s Empire Zone “
• Third place: Emily Ramshaw, Doug Swanson, Holly Becka and Amy Rosen, The Dallas Morning News, Dallas, Texas, ” Texas Youth Commission “
• Honorable mention: Brad Bumsted, Andrew Conte and Debra Erdley, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Pittsburgh, Pa., “Gambling with time”
• Honorable mention: Bob Paynter, Mark Rollenhagen and Diane Suchetka, The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio, ” Medicaid “

In-depth reporting, newspapers with less than 75,000 circulation and weeklies

• First place: Megan Poinski, Tim Fields, Lynn Freehill, Joe Tsidulko, Aesha Duval, Joy Blackburn, Christine Lett, Ian Morrison, The Virgin Islands Daily News, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, “The Turnbull Era: 1999-2006; Eight years at Government House”
• Second place: James Sinks, The Bulletin, Bend , Ore. , “Changing Oregon: Our shifting political landscape”
• Third place: Dean Olsen, The State Journal-Register, Springfield , Ill. , “All Kids Prognosis”

In-depth reporting, magazines

None

In-depth reporting, television, markets 1 to 50

First place: John Daley, KSL-TV, Salt Lake City, Utah, ” Follow the money ”

In-depth reporting, television, markets 51 to 210

None

In-depth reporting, radio

• First place: Amanda Vinicky, WUIS/Illinois Public Radio, “Electric rate shock”
• Second place: Austin Jenkins and Chris Lehman, Northwest News Network, “Gay rights in the statehouse”
• Third place: Emily Kopp, Georgia Public Broadcasting, “Peachcare Finances ”

In-depth reporting, online

• First place: Staff, The Center for Public Integrity, Washington , D.C. , ” Statehouse revolvers “
• Second place: Pamela M. Prah, Stateline.org, Washington , D.C. , ” 2006 is year of surpluses, social issues “
• Third place: Christine Vestal, Stateline.org, Washington , D.C. , ” States probe limits of abortion policy ”

Single report, wire services and newspapers with more than 75,000 circulation

• First place: Andy Furillo, The Sacramento Bee , Sacramento , Calif. , “Prisons’ legal strain”
• Second place: Robert Tanner, The Associated Press, “Arson on Trial”
• Third place: Ted Wendling and T.C. Brown, The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio , “Gas tax”
• Honorable mention: David Lieb, The Associated Press, “Forgotten roads”

Single report, newspapers with less than 75,000 circulation and weeklies

• First place: Ben Jones, The Post-Crescent/Green Bay Press-Gazette, Appleton , Wis. , “Tickets in bounds, candidates say”
• Second place: Ryan Mahoney, Atlanta Business Chronicle, Atlanta , Ga. , “Red state laboratory”
• Third place: Jessica Vanderkolk, Altoona Mirror, Altoona , Pa. , “Sense of finality”

Single report, magazines

• First place: Nate Blakeslee, The Texas Observer, Austin , Texas , ” Hidden in Plain Sight “
• Second place: Gabrielle Gurley, CommonWealth, Boston , Mass. , “Taking off”
• Third place: Bethany Carson, Illinois Issues, Springfield , Ill. , ” Small panel, major players “

Single report, television, markets 1 to 50

None

Single report, television, markets 51 to 210

• First place: Bill McAllister, KTUU, Anchorage , Alaska , “Murkowski profile”
• Second place: Loretta Boniti, WVIR, Charlottesville , Va. , “Political outlook: Virginia Assembly”

Single report, radio

• First place: Austin Jenkins, Northwest News Network, Olympia , Wash. , “War Protest”
• Second place: Bill Cohen, Ohio Public Radio, Columbus , Ohio , “Anti-climax as strip club bill becomes law”
• Third place: Chris Lehman, Northwest News Network, Salem , Ore. , “Bicyclists seek three-foot buffer”

Single report, online

• First place: Daniel C. Vock, Stateline.org , Washington , D.C. , ” Quick cancer mandate raises health concerns “
• Second place: Pauline Vu, Stateline.org , Washington , D.C. , ” Lake Wobegon, U.S.A. – where all the children are above average “
• Third place: Jason Bane, Colorado Confidential, Denver , Colo. , ” Trailhead to nowhere “

Beat reporting, wire services and newspapers with more than 75,000 circulation

• First place: Don Thompson, The Associated Press, Sacramento , Calif.
• Second place: Susan Livio, The Star-Ledger, Newark , N.J.
• Third place: Brett Blackledge, The Birmingham News, Birmingham , Ala.
• Honorable mention: Ray Long, John Chase, Rick Pearson, David Kidwell, Jeff Coen and David Jackson, Chicago Tribune, Chicago , Ill.
• Honorable mention: John O’Connor, The Associated Press, Springfield , Ill.

Beat reporting, newspapers with less than 75,000 circulation and weeklies

• First place: Scott Rothschild, Lawrence Journal-World, Topeka , Kan.
• Second place: Megan Poinski, The Virgin Islands Daily News, St. Thomas , Virgin Islands
• Third place: Jonathan Rivoli, The Bismarck Tribune, Bismarck , N.D.

Beat reporting, magazines

None

Beat reporting, television, markets 1 to 50

First place: Robert Kittle, WSPA-TV, Greenville , S.C.

Beat reporting, television, markets 51 to 210

• First place: Loretta Boniti, WVIR, Charlottesville , Va.
• Second place: Bill McAllister, KTUU, Anchorage , Alaska

Beat reporting, radio

• First place: Austin Jenkins, Northwest News Network, Olympia , Wash.
• Second place: Bente Birkeland, Rocky Mountain Radio, Denver , Colo.
• Third place: Bill Cohen, Ohio Public Radio, Columbus , Ohio

Beat reporting, online

• First place: Bethany Carson and Deanese Williams-Harris , Illinois Issues, Springfield , Ill.
• Second place: Pamela M. Prah, Stateline.org, Washington , D.C.
• Third place: Daniel C. Vock, Stateline.org, Washington , D.C.