Arkansas Democrat-Gazette journalists received first-place honors in four categories of the Green Eyeshade Awards, a journalism competition that takes entries from 11 Southeastern states.
The newspaper’s four first-place awards ranked it behind only the Chattanooga Times Free Press, with five top honors, and the Tampa Bay Times, which had six first-place awards, among large newspapers in the competition.
The Times Free Press and the Democrat-Gazette are owned by Arkansas-based WEHCO Media, Inc.
Three of the Democrat-Gazette’s first-place awards involved coverage of the April 27, 2014, tornado that killed 16 people in Pulaski and Faulkner counties.
Online coverage of the tornado by members of the newspaper’s online and print staff won the top award for deadline reporting online.
Reporting on the tornado in the print editions received first place in the disaster reporting category.
Contest judges recognized photographer Stephen B. Thornton as the best in spot news photography for a portfolio of five pictures ranging from coverage of a fire to the tornado.
The other first-place award went to former Democrat-Gazette reporter Cathy Frye; her photographer husband, Rick McFarland; and other staff members in the specialized website category for a narrative series about Frye and McFarland’s near-death experience after getting lost in a southwest Texas desert.
The newspaper also received five second-place and two third-place citations.
Second-place honors went to:
Philip Martin in the criticism category for a portfolio of his “Critical Mass” columns.
Lisa Hammersly and Chris Bahn in the politics reporting category for a story about Arkansas’ outdated paper-only campaign finance reporting system.
Wally Hall in the sports commentary category for a portfolio of his “Like It Is” columns.
Benjamin Krain in the feature photography category.
John Brummett in the online serious commentary category.
Third-place awards went to:
Democrat-Gazette staff for deadline reporting among daily newspapers with circulation above 60,000 for tornado coverage.
Paul Greenberg in the editorial writing category.
The Green Eyeshade Awards, in its 65th year, recognizes journalism excellence in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia.
The contest is administered by regional directors of the Society of Professional Journalists from the South.