Gazette staff wins 40 awards in annual statewide contest

The Gazette staff was honored with General Excellence among the state’s largest multi-day papers and 39 other awards during the annual Iowa Newspaper Association convention.

The awards were presented during a banquet Thursday night in Des Moines.

Longtime news editor Mary Sharp was honored with the association’s Distinguished Service Award, an honor bestowed by past recipients. Sharp had a nearly 35-year career in Burlington, Ottumwa, Champaign, Ill., and Cedar Rapids before "retiring" in 2011. Sharp, who has edited the Derecho and flood recovery books, came back to The Gazette a couple of years later and continues to copy edit several nights per week.

Social Video Producer Bailey Cichon was honored as a Genevieve Mauck Stoufer Young Iowa Journalist for their work on Curious Iowa and other features.

Reporter Brittney J. Miller was honored with the Jay P. Wagner Prize for Young Journalists in recognition for her ongoing environmental reporting work. Miller is a corps member with Report For America.

Reporter Elijah Decious was honored with the Ken Fuson Writing Award. The award goes for the best writing in any category and any class of the competition. Decious won the award for the first part of his series on homelessness in Iowa.

Reporter Emily Andersen was honored with the Skip Weber Investigative Reporting Award for the second consecutive year for the reporting she did on police officers being hired to Iowa departments despite having criminal records.

The Gazette finished second in points to the Iowa Falls Times Citizen as Newspaper of the Year, an award the paper last won in the 1980s.

Other staff recognitions include:

FIRST PLACE AWARDS: General Excellence, Coverage of Business, Coverage of Agriculture, Coverage of Politics and Government, Best Sports Section, Excellence in Editorial Writing (Althea Cole), Master Columnist (Sofia DeMartino), Sports Feature Story (John Steppe), Personality Feature Story (Diana Nollen), Best Photographer (Geoff Stellfox), Sports Feature Photo (Savannah Blake), Breaking News Photo (Nick Rohlman), Newspaper Marketing, Use of Social Media, Best Podcast, Best Slideshow (Nick Rohlman), Best Headline Writing, Total Newspaper Design.

SECOND PLACE AWARDS: Sports Feature Story (Jeff Linder), Best News Story (Vanessa Miller), News Feature Photo (Jim Slosiarek), Sports Feature Photo (Nick Rohlman), Sports Photo (Savannah Blake), Breaking News Photo (Jim Slosiarek), Newspaper Marketing, Best Special Section-Editorial, Best Feature Page, Best Ad Featuring Furniture.

THIRD PLACE AWARDS: Master Sports Columnist (JR Ogden), Personality Feature Story (Elijah Decious), Best Photographer (Savannah Blake), News Feature Photo (Jim Slosiarek), Sports Feature Photo (Jim Slosiarek), Breaking News Photo (Nick Rohlman), News Photo (Savannah Blake), Best Video (Bailey Cichon), Best Web Advertisement.