Daily Citizen wins 21 AP awards, including ‘Story of the Year’

Published 6:07 am Sunday, May 20, 2012

The Daily Citizen won 21 state Associated Press awards for writing and photography in 2011, including the division’s “Story of the Year” for the newspaper’s coverage of a deadly tornado in Ringgold.

This is the fourth straight year The Daily Citizen has won “Story of the Year.” The Daily Citizen competed in Class AA, which includes newspapers in Rockdale County and Valdosta. The awards were presented at a banquet Saturday in Macon.

“Our staff had another strong showing in a very competitive class,” Daily Citizen Publisher William Bronson said. “We are very proud of the community journalism our staff produced last year and we look forward to bringing more compelling stories and photographs to our readers each day.”

Reporters Rachel Brown and Jamie Jones garnered “Story of the Year” honors for their accounts of the tornado that killed eight people in Catoosa County in April. Brown traveled to Ringgold after the deadly twister, interviewing residents and local officials. Jones spoke to Whitfield County residents who helped with the cleanup and local law enforcement officials.

Writing

• Beat reporting: First place, Rachel Brown, for her coverage of the education beat.

• Business reporting: First place, Jamie Jones, for his profile of Bob Shaw and his new business venture Engineered Floors.

• Deadline reporting, also named “Story of the Year”: First place, Rachel Brown and Jamie Jones, for their coverage of the Ringgold tornado.

• Editorial Writing: First place, staff, for commentary on why the local Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) vote failed; and second place, staff, for an editorial about the state’s crackdown on carpet retailers.

• Feature writing: First place, Mark Millican, for a story about a World War II veteran’s return to Italy; second place, Jamie Jones, for a story on a Chatsworth resident training a wild Mustang.

• Non-deadline reporting: First place, staff (Rachel Brown, Jamie Jones, Marty Kirkland, Victor Miller, Mark Millican and Charles Oliver) for The Daily Citizen’s series titled “An Uncertain Future” that examined the effect of Georgia’s new immigration law.

• Sports reporting: First place, Chris Whitfield, for his coverage of Dalton High School’s use of an ineligible football player; second place, Marty Kirkland, for a feature story on a well-known tennis player, Fred Chen.

Photography

• Feature photo: Second place, Misty Watson.

• Photo illustration: First place, Matt Hamilton.

• Picture story: First place, Misty Watson.

• Portfolio: First place, Matt Hamilton; second place, Misty Watson.

• Sports action photo: First place, Matt Hamilton; second place, Misty Watson.

• Sports feature photo: First place, Misty Watson.

• Spot news photo: Second place, Matt Hamilton.