Spotlight Contest Winners Announced

 SPJ Keystone Pro Chapter’s Spotlight Contest Results

It is with great pleasure I announce the winners of our 2013 Society of Professional Journalists Keystone Pro Chapter’s Spotlight Contest recognizing the best in Pennsylvania journalism. The entries were outstanding and based on the comments of our judges, the decisions were difficult. This year’s judging was done by members of SPJ chapters in Oregon, Tennessee and Connecticut.

Congratulations to all those who placed in this year’s contest. The fact so many chose to enter their best work in this and other journalism contests is a testament to the strength of our business and its importance in an ever-changing society. There will always be a need for watchdogs.

Our chapter is a small but feisty group and we are always looking for new members. We do not meet all that often and most recently we have seen a renewed interest from high school and college students to be part of SPJ. Our chapter is always available to speak to anyone who is interested in what we stand for and we encourage you to be part of our outreach. Membership is $75 a year for professionals and academics (the cost of a dinner and movie these days!) and $12 to be part of the local chapter. The price is cut in half for students and retirees. Membership applications and much more may be found at www.spj.org.

Again, congratulations and we look forward to meeting everyone in Harrisburg on May 18.

Pat Trosky
President, SPJ Keystone Pro Chapter
pattrosky@gmail.com – 570-262-2030
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SPJ Keystone Pro Chapter’s Spotlight Contest Results

APRIL 2013

SPOTLIGHT AWARD – This is the Keystone State SPJ Chapter’s most prestigious award, given to the journalist(s) whose published investigative story or series scooped other media and placed the public’s right to know in the public spotlight. The prize is $100 and a plaque for first place. Second and third place winners in this category receive plaques. Certificates will be presented to honorable mentions.

FIRST PLACE – The Scranton Times – “City in Crisis” Jim Lockwood, Borys Krawczeniuk
SECOND PLACE – Morning Call – “Allentown Arena Project” Matt Assad, Scott Kraus
THIRD PLACE – Scranton Times – “Rosetti” Sarah Hofius Hall

DAILY NEWSPAPER AWARDS

BEST OVERAL NEWSPAPER

FIRST PLACE – The Scranton Times
SECOND PLACE – Pittsburgh Tribune- Review
THIRD PLACE – Morning Call

BROADSHEET PAGE DESIGN

FIRST PLACE –Bucks County Courier Times “In With the New” Paul Moser
SECOND PLACE –,Pittsburgh Tribune-Review “Journey for Recovery” Elizabeth Jackson
THIRD PLACE –Bucks County Courier Times “Disco and Doo-wop FEVER” Colleen Pendergast

BUSINESS AND LABOR REPORTING

FIRST PLACE – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, “Fixing the Economy” Mike Wereschagin
SECOND PLACE – Scranton Times, “Outlook 2012” Staff
THIRD PLACE – New Castle News, Shale Boom – Seismic testing going on in county – Shale creates tourism, conservation dollars – Debbie Wachter

COMMENTARY

FIRST PLACE – Philadelphia Daily News – columns by Ronnie Polaneczky
SECOND PLACE – Bucks County Courier Times – Fratti commentary
THIRD PLACE – Philadelphia Daily News – columns by Rich Hofmann

EDITORIAL WRITING

FIRST PLACE – Bucks County Courier Times – Guy Petroziello
SECOND PLACE – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review – Alan Wallace
THIRD PLACE – The Citizens’ Voice – Dave Janoski

ENTERPRISE WRITING

FIRST PLACE – Scranton Times “City in Crisis” Jim Lockwood, Borys Krawczeniuk
SECOND PLACE – Pocono Record “Chemical Threats Around Us: Disaster on wheels, trucks loaded with hazmats roll through the Poconos “ Vinny Vella, Howard Frank, Andrew Scott
THIRD PLACE – Pittstburgh Tribune-Review “Andrew Conte, Lou Kilzer, Jim Wilhelm

ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTING

FIRST PLACE –Pittsburgh Tribune-Review “Drilling Down: Marcellus Shale” Tim Puko
SECOND PLACE – Valley News Dispatch “Volunteers Step In” Brian Rittmeyer
THIRD PLACE – Valley News Dispatch Who Gives a Hoot” Liz Hayes

FEATURE PHOTOGRAPHY

FIRST PLACE – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review “It’s a Bug’s World” Philip G. Pavely
SECOND PLACE – Scranton Times “Wild Hair Day” Butch Comegys
THIRD PLACE – Bucks County Courier Times “On the Move” Bill Fraser

FEATURE STORY

FIRST PLACE – Philadelphia Daily News “Teen Spirit” Molly Eichel
SECOND PLACE – Bucks County Courier Times “Doctors can put breaks on driver’s license” Jo Ciavaglia
THIRD PLACE – Philadelphia Daily News “My dumb Olympics” Molly Eichel

HEADLINE

FIRST PLACE – The Mercury “Raising the Spar” Cheryl Thornburg
SECOND PLACE – The Intelligencer “Police pick the right nose” Staff
THIRD PLACE – The Citizens’ Voice “They are Penn State” Kevin Donlin

HEALTH AND MEDICAL REPORTING

FIRST PLACE – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review “Journey for Recovery” Adam Smeltz, Jasmine
SECOND PLACE – Daily Local News “Autism: A Closer Look at the puzzle” Chelsea Reyher
THIRD PLACE – Bucks County Courier Times “Doctors put brakes on driver’s license” Jo Ciavaglia

WEB USE

FIRST PLACE – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review “Rules of engagement: A step-by-step animation of tragedy” Jason Lanza, Carl Prine
SECOND PLACE – The Citizens’ Voice, “Citizens’ Toolkit” Dave Janoski, Shannon Zimmerman, Michael Sisak
THIRD PLACE – Morning Call “Lehigh County Reassessment Database” Eugene Tauber , Micahel Duck, Jessica Foster, Andrew McGill

NEWS PHOTOGRAPHY

FIRST PLACE – Daily Local News “Fire hits Downingtown church” Tom Kelly IV
SECOND PLACE – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review “In Loving Memory” Andrew Russell
THIRD PLACE – Bucks County Courier Times “Honoring the Fallen” Kim Weimer

ONLINE BREAKING NEWS

FIRST PLACE – Scranton Times, “Superstorm Sandy” Staff
SECOND PLACE – The Mercury “Logan Court Standoff, Pottstown,” Eileen Faust, Brandie Kessler, Frank Otto
THIRD PLACE – Central Penn Business Journal “Senator Toomey: Obama’s tax policy bad for manufacturing” Jim T. Ryan

PHOTO STORY

FIRST PLACE – Pittstburgh Tribune-Review “Guide Dogs” Andrew Russell
SECOND PLACE – Pittstburgh Tribune-Review “Journey for Recovery” Jasmine Goldband
THIRD PLACE – New Castle News, “Farewell, Lindy” Erica Galvin

SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY

FIRST PLACE – Scranton Times “West Scranton Basketball Fans” Jason Farmer
SECOND PLACE – Herald-Standard “Laurel Highlands hurdle” John Brothers
THIRD PLACE – Press-Enterprise “Bloom the best in town” Jimmy May

SPORTS REPORTING

FIRST PLACE – Philadelphia Daily News “Joe Paterno” Staff
SECOND PLACE – Scranton Times “Joe Paterno” Donnie Collins, Michael sisak, Scott Walsh, Joby Fawcett, Jim Lockwood
THIRD PLACE – Philadelphia Daily News “Chaney at 80” Mike Kern

SPOT NEWS

FIRST PLACE – Scranton Times “Superstorm Sandy” Staff
SECOND PLACE – The Intelligencer “This is the way I want to die” Matt Coughlin, Theresa Hegel, Freda Savana
THIRD PLACE – Scranton Times “Blaze Kills Infant” Jim Lockwood

TABLOID PAGE DESIGN

FIRST PLACE – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review “Joe Paterno 1926-2012” Melanie Wass
SECOND PLACE – The Citizens’ Voice Tab Page Design Michael Sisak
THIRD PLACE – The Citizens’Voice, “Joe Pa” Kevin Donlin

NON-DAILY NEWSPAPERS

BEST OVERAL NEWSPAPER

FIRST PLACE – Murrysville Star – Daveen Rae Kurutz, Brian Estadt, Robert Weible, Matthew Grubba, Vince Townley and Lillian DeDomenic
SECOND PLACE – Pittsburgh Business Times, Staff
THIRD PLACE – Central Penn Business Journal. Staff

PHOTO STORY

FIRST PLACE – Central Penn Business Journal “Meet the athletes” Amy Spangler, Heather Stauffer
SECOND PLACE – Gateway Newspapers “Spinners…newest attraction at Kennywood, Sandcastle” Lillian DeDomenic
THIRD PLACE – Philadelphia Gay News “Philly Pride 2012” Scott A. Drake

SPOT NEWS

FIRST PLACE –The Almanac “School Security Scrutinized” Terri Johnson
SECOND PLACE – Jewish Exponent “Abrupt End to a Beloved Institution” Lisa Hostein, Bryan Schwartzman
THIRD PLACE – Philadelphia Gay News “Philly rated top in nation for LGBT equality” Jen Colletta

TABLOID PAGE DESIGN

FIRST PLACE – Philadelphia Weekly “Binder full of women” Drew Phillips
SECOND PLACE – Central Penn Business Journal “Top 100 private companies: Winning teams” Kathryn Morton
THIRD PLACE – Central Penn Business Journal “Construction & Real Estate Report: Back on board” Kathryn Morton, Amy Spangler

FEATURE STORY

FIRST PLACE – The Almanac “Hearing God’s Call” Eleanor Bailey
SECOND PLACE – Swarthmore College Bulletin “Homage to the Past, Invitation to the Present” Carol Brevart-Demm
THIRD PLACE – Central Penn Business Journal “Bridging divides” Jim T. Ryan

SPORTS REPORTING

FIRST PLACE – Central Penn Business Journal “Business of Sports” Brent Burkey
SECOND PLACE – Central Penn Business Journal “Backers: Sports complexes would strengthen mid-state economy” Jason Scott
THIRD PLACE – no award

ENTERPRISE REPORTING

FIRST PLACE – Pittsburgh Business Times “Lack of rain, harvest of pain” Paul Gough
SECOND PLACE – Central Penn Business Journal “Pennsylvania’s Pension Crisis” Jason Scott
THIRD PLACE – Murrysville Star “By the Numbers” Daveen Rae Kurutz

EDITORIAL WRITING

FIRST PLACE – Central Penn Business Journal, Hope Stephan
SECOND PLACE – Philadelphia Gay News, Jen Colletta
THIRD PLACE – Jewish Exponent

COMMENTARY

FIRST PLACE – Philadelphia Weekly “The Breakdown” Tara Murtha
SECOND PLACE – Sewickley Herald “Bobby Cherry columns” Bobby Cherry
THIRD PLACE – Philadelphia Gay News “Mark My Words” Mark Segal

HEADLINE WRITING

FIRST PLACE – Philadelphia Weeky “He’s not the boss of me” Stephen H. Segal
SECOND PLACE – Central Penn Business Journal “Liquid assets” Kathryn Morton
THIRD PLACE – Philadelphia Weekly “Matter of Framing” Stephen H. Segal

BUSINESS AND LABOR REPORTING

FIRST PLACE –Pittsburgh Business Times “US Steel’s HQ search” Tim Schooley, Malia Spencer
SECOND PLACE – Central Penn Business Journal “Payday loans hurt small businesses” Tim Stuhldreher
THIRD PLACE – PublicSource “The Perfect Financial Crime” Bill Heltzel

NEWS PHOTOGRAPHY

FIRST PLACE – The Times Express “Local Sikhs mourn victims of temple shooting” Lillian DeDomenic
SECOND PLACE – Murrysville Star “A family reconnects after 100 years” Lillian DeDomenic
THIRD PLACE – Philadlephia Gay News “Acting to end AIDS” Scott A. Drake

SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY

FIRST PLACE – The Signal Item “Bishop Canevin dismantles Carlynton, 38-0” Randy Jarosz
SECOND PLACE – Central Penn Business Journal “Indoor athletic facilities keep customers during recession” Amy Spangler
THIRD PLACE – Philadelphia Gay News “Taking it to the mats” Scott A. Drake

FEATURE PHOTOGRAPHY

FIRST PLACE – Sewickley Herald “Flash Dance” Kristina Serafini
SECOND PLACE – North Journal “St. Alexis Festival” Randy Jarosz
THIRD PLACE – Central Penn Business Journal “Unclear course” Amy Spangler

HEALTH AND MEDICAL REPORTING

FIRST PLACE – Pittsburgh Business Times “Fighting Diabetes in Fayette” Kris Mamula
SECOND PLACE –Central Penn Business Journal “Health care reform ruling ushers in time for action” Heather Stauffer
THIRD PLACE – Philadelphia Weekly “Turning Over a New Leaf”Randy LoBasso

ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTING

FIRST PLACE – Central Penn Business Journal “Green vs. Green” Tim Stuhldreher
SECOND PLACE – PublicSource “Shale drillers eager to move wastewater on barges” Emily DeMarco
THIRD PLACE – Central Penn Business Journal “Liquid Assets” Brent Burkey

WEB USE

FIRST PLACE – Central Penn Business Journal “Health care reform resource center” Hope Stephan, Staff
SECOND PLACE – Swarthmore Bulletin “Unpacking Memory (video)” Laurence Kesterson
THIRD PLACE – Jewish Exponent – www.jewishexponent.com – Staff

Questions or mistakes should be forwarded to Pat Trosky at pattrosky@gmail.com or leave a message at 570-262-2030. Spelling of names will appear or plaques or certificates as they appear here unless you let me know as soon as possible there is a mistake.

 

Scholarships available for national SPJ convention

Excellence in Journalism 2013 (EIJ13) is the must-attend journalism conference of the year — and you could get a free ride.

 

Through three scholarship programs, the Society of Professional Journalists will send several members to Southern California for EIJ13. Each scholarship covers a conference registration and some travel expenses, among other benefits unique to each award.

 

From Aug. 24 to 26, about 1,400 journalists will gather for exceptional networking and training opportunities, not to mention the variety of resources available in the Journalism Expo. Even if you’re not eligible for a scholarship, start planning your trip to EIJ13.

 

More on the scholarships:

 

The Diversity Leadership Fellows Program invites six journalists to participate in the program and connect with the Society at EIJ13. Applicants are from groups underrepresented in the media, have at least three years of post-collegiate journalism experience and have been SPJ members for at least one year. Read more about applying to be a Diversity Leadership Fellow.

 

SPJ awards up to five Terry Harper Memorial Scholarships. Terry served as executive director of SPJ from 2002 to 2009, when he passed away after a two-year battle with brain cancer. While at SPJ, Terry prioritized providing journalists with high-caliber professional training, and this scholarship enables professional members to receive it at EIJ13. Here are application details.

 

There’s a scholarship for students, too. The Robert D.G. Lewis First Amendment Award honors an active student member of SPJ who has shown great dedication to the First Amendment. Bob Lewis was a 48-year member of SPJ when he died in 2012. He served as national president and chair of the national Freedom of Information Committee. He also received the Wells Key, the highest honor for an SPJ member.  Apply here.

 

Send your questions to Lauren Rochester at awards@spj.org

WHYY seeks audience for Sunshine Week show

 

WHYY in Philadelphia is doing a Sunshine Week program with Bill Allison of the Sunlight Foundation at 7 p.m. March 12. The station is hoping to fill the room. It should be a great program, and I think it’s always wise to show support for open government. Get the details here.

 

Free material for Sunshine Week March 10-16

Newspapers and magazines can download two free Pennsylvania-specific columns for National Sunshine Week, March 10-March 16. They also have access to free cartoons, logos and national columns.

This year’s Pennsylvania columnists include First Amendment attorneys Niles Benn and Terence Barna, as well as Kim de Bourbon, executive director of the Pennsylvania Freedom of Information Coalition. They can be downloaded at http://sunshineweek.rcfp.org/state-resources.

And, of course, original work for Sunshine Week would be wonderful. Open records are, of course, as important to everyday citizens as it is to those of us in the media – but citizens don’t realize it until they have trouble getting information. This week gives us a chance to tell people why the Right to Know Law and Sunshine Act need to be protected. And believe you me, they’re under attack by government officials who want to keep things in the dark! That’s why Keystone SPJ arranged for the columns to be available.

Date for SPJ Region I Spring Conference set

Join journalists from throughout the northeast as we gather on April 12-13 at the New Brunswick, N.J. campus of Rutgers University at the SPJ Region I Spring Conference. More details will be posted as they become available at http://www.facebook.com/events/393621630728652/?ref=22

2013 Spotlight Contest Submission directions

This year, entries to the 2013 Society of Professional Journalists Keystone Pro Chapter Spotlight Contest – The Best in PA Journalism will be submitted using BetterBNC Online Journalism Awards Platform.

Below are directions for preparing and submitting entries. For questions, please contact Pat Trosky at 570-245-3967 or pattrosky@ymail.com.

IMPORTANT: BetterBNC is optimized for Firefox for PC and Macintosh. Please have a recent version downloaded and installed for the best contest experience.

The deadline for all entries is FEB. 28, 2013.

1. Login

   1. Go to http://www.betterbnc.com.

   2. Click contestant login (upper left) or the appropriate Contestant Login button on the right side of the page.

   3. Select the appropriate contestant type:

      1. If you are the single point of contact for your organization, select Contestant Manager. NOTE: Once you have submitted 2 entries, you will be receive an email validating your Contestant Manager account, enabling you to create Authorized Entrant accounts to make entries on behalf of your organization.

      2. If you have received an email authorizing you to submit entries for your organization, select Authorized Entrant.

      3. If you are an individual submitting your own entries (including non-members and freelancers), select Open Call, then enter your email and password. If you haven’t yet created an Open Call account, follow the on-screen instructions.

   4. Contestant Manager and Authorized Entrant only:

      1. Select the appropriate Contest.

      2. Select the appropriate News Organization.

      3. (Authorized Entrant only) Enter your email address.

      4. Enter your temporary Password: bnc (lower case), and click Login. When you first login, the system will prompt you to create a secure password and enter your contact information.

2. Submit Entries

   1. On the Manage Entries page, click Submit Entry (left side).

   2. Select the appropriate Division (grouping of categories).

   3. Select the appropriate Category.

   4. Complete the Headline/Title field.

   5. Add entry content (may vary by category):

      1. To upload digital file attachments (other than audio/video), click Browse, navigate to the desired file, and select Open. Allowed file types are PDF, DOC, TXT, JPG, GIF, and PNG. If more than one attachment is desired for this entry, click Attach More and repeat these steps. If you reach a point where you cannot add any more attachments to an entry, you may have reached the attachments limit, set by your contest administrator. Please try to keep file sizes under 5mb. Upload larger files to a 3^rd-party website such as www.issuu.com, and copy and paste the hosted item’s web address into the Website URL field.

      2. To add web/audio/video content, copy and paste the content’s web address into the provided Website URL field. To host your content online, either upload it to a free streaming content website or talk to your IT person about adding it to your website. Make sure the content will be accessible online throughout the contest and awards process. Here are some examples of free streaming content websites where you can upload audio and video content:

Audio: www.kiwi6.com, www.tindeck.com

Video: www.youtube.com, www.vimeo.com

IMPORTANT: Please ensure that items are not behind a paywall or a password-protected area. If they are, you must provide username/password info in the Comments section of your entry. Judges may disqualify your entry if work samples are inaccessible.

6. Add Credits for EACH and EVERY person responsible for the entry content.

7. Add Comments, but keep them to 100 words or less.

8. Click Submit.

9. Print the entry label (which automatically appears after each entry is submitted) for each entered item and make sure to include it with payment. (See below)

3. Pay for Entries

   1. When all entries are submitted (but before the Entry Deadline), log in to your account’s Manage Entries page.

   2. Click Calculate Entry Fee (middle right) and review your list of entries for accuracy.

   3. Scroll to the bottom of the list for your Entry Fee Subtotal (lower right).

   4. Click the payment link (lower left) to pay for your contest entries, following the instructions on the payment page.

   5. Click the Print icon (upper right) to print your list of entries and fees.

For those who choose to use the Open Call Login:

Create Your Account

1. Go to www.betterbnc.com.
2. Click Open Call Login.
3. Click Create Your Open Call Account.
4. Follow on-screen instructions.

Request Access to the SPJ Keystone Pro contest
1. Log in to your account.
2. Go to My Contests.
3. Check the box next to “2013 Society of Professional Journalists Keystone Pro Chapter Spotlight Contest – The Best in PA Journalism”/ (this will automatically notify the contest administrator of your access request).

Make Entries
Once you receive an approval email from the contest administrator, you can begin making entries on the Submit Entry page.

Scrapbooks
Your Open Call account allows you to create and manage Scrapbooks (cloud-based storage folders) for your contest-worthy material throughout the year. Your Scrapbooks can be used to save both attachments and website URLs, and can be accessed any time you create an entry.

 

2013 Spotlight Contest Categories

1 Spotlight Award

This is the Keystone State SPJ Chapter’s most prestigious award, given to the journalist whose published investigative story or series scooped other media and placed the public’s right to know in the public spotlight.

2 Broadsheet Page Design

Entry should be a single tear sheet

3 Business and Labor Reporting

Any story or column is eligible. Entries can either be single article or series. A series must identified by a logo or editor’s note.

4 Commentary

This award is presented to columnists. Submit five representative samples.

5 Editorial Writing

Entries must be five unsigned editorials.

6 Enterprise Reporting

Awarded for enterprise reporting (not on deadline) of a single event or issue. Entries may be single article or editor-noted or logoed series.

7 Environmental Reporting

Entries can be a single article or series of no more than five stories or columns. A series must be identified by a logo or editor’s note.

8 Feature Photography

Awarded for photography of any topic or subject in a single published photo that tells a story with thought and creativity

9 Feature Story

Entries may be personality profiles, trend stories, human interest stories or any other type of feature that is not a breaking news or sports story. Entries may be a single article or series identified by a logo or editor’s note.

10 Headline

Submit clip of the headline and first five paragraphs of the story.

11 Health and Medical Reporting

Entries can be a single article or series of no more than five stories or columns. A series must be identified by a logo or editor’s note.

12 Web Use

Awarded for the best use of the Web. Entries will be judged on their effectiveness at breaking or expanding news or feature stories. Examples include reader-accessible databases, blogs, breaking news or updates, links, photos and interactive Web sites. Entries must consist of Web address for sites. A cover letter explaining the site’s features is allowed, but not required.

13 News Photography

Must be single photo of a deadline news event for daily papers, the photo must have been published in the issue directly following the event.

14 Online Breaking News

A single news event reported online and through social media outlets as it happens. Submissions may include first news alerts to smart phones or via email as well as any other multimedia or social media elements used to develop the story within a one day news cycle such as video, photos, audio, sidebars and updates on Facebook or Twitter.

15 Photo Story

Awarded for a published series of photos of any topic or subject that tells a story with thought and creativity.

16 Sports Photography

Awarded for published sports photography showing ingenuity and creativity in telling the story of a sports event or about its athletes.

17 Sports Reporting

Entries may include any sports story or column. Entries can be a single article or series. A series must he identified by a logo or editor’s note.

18 Spot News Story

This award is given for deadline reporting of a single event. For daily papers, must have been published in the issue of publication that directly followed the event.

19 Best Overall Newspaper

The award is presented to the newspaper that best represents its community. Please submit issues from March 14, Oct. 24 and one of the editor’s choice.

20 Tabloid Page Design

Entry should be a single tear sheet.