With an expanded contest this year, America's Newspapers awarded honors for both editorial writing and column writing on Monday, with top honors going to staff members from The Wichita (Kansas) Eagle; The Berkshire Eagle, Pittsfield, Massachusetts; The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City; and the Austin (Texas) American-Statesman.
The prize is named for the late Benjamin Carmage Walls whose newspaper career spanned seven decades. Walls primarily owned community newspapers and advocated strong, courageous and positive editorial page leadership.
Awards for editorial writing and column writing were presented in two circulation breakouts: under 35,000 circulation and over 35,000.
EDITORIAL WRITNG
Clytie Bunyan, managing editor for diversity, community engagement and opinion with The Oklahoman, placed first among newspapers with circulations over 35,000 circulation and Dave Coffey, editorial page editor of The Berkshire Eagle in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, placed first among newspapers under 35,000. First place carries a cash prize of $2,250.
Second-place honors in the over 35,000 circulation bracket was awarded to David Barham, editorial page editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. The prize in the under 35,000 circulation bracket was shared by John Nagy, editor, and David Woronoff, publisher, of The Pilot, Southern Pines, North Carolina. Second place includes a cash prize of $1,000.
Third-place honors were awarded to Douglas Lyons, editorial writer, and Tony Doris, editorial page editor of The Palm Beach Post (over 35,000 circulation). In the under 35,000 bracket, third-place honors went to Dave Stafford, assistant managing editor of The Republic in Columbus, Indiana. Third-place honors include a cash prize of $500.
Judges also recognized two additional finalists in this category: Corey Friedman, The Wilson (North Carolina) Times, and Michael Smith, The Galveston County Daily News.
COLUMN WRITNG
Bridget Grumet, metro columnist with the Austin (Texas) American-Statesman, placed first among newspapers with circulations over 35,000 circulation and Dion Lefler, opinion editor of The Wichita Eagle in Kansas, placed first among newspapers under 35,000. First place carries a cash prize of $2,250.
Second-place honors in the over 35,000 circulation bracket were awarded to Brier Dudley, Free Press editor of The Seattle (Washington) Times. The second-place prize in the under 35,000 circulation bracket was presented to Lizi Arbogast Gwin, managing editor of The Alexander City (Alabama) Outlook. Second place includes a cash prize of $1,000.
Third-place honors were awarded to John Brummett, a writer with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in Little Rock (over 35,000 circulation). In the under 35,000 bracket, third-place honors went to Jess Huff of The Lufkin (Texas) Daily News. Third-place honors include a cash prize of $500.
The judges in this bracket also recognized four additional finalists: Bridget Grumet, Austin American-Statesman (for a second entry submitted in the contest); David Plazas, The Tennessean; Karl Richter, Texarkana Gazette; and Gary Stallard, The Lufkin Daily News.
