Daily Times journalists garner multiple awards

From Staff Reports

The Daily Times body of work shone brightly as the staff walked away with 31 awards at the annual East Tennessee Society of Professional Journalists Golden Press Card Awards Friday night hosted at The Foundry in Knoxville.

Journalists, including reporters, photographers and producers, from across East Tennessee submitted their finest work -- published, broadcast or printed online -- of 2007. Style, accuracy and interest were among some of the deciding factors for the judges. Most categories were divided into divisions for papers with a circulation of more than 25,000 and less than 25,000. There was also a category for non-daily newspapers.

Four awards could be given in each category. The Award of Excellence was given to the top-place finisher. The Award of Merit was given to second place. There were also awards for third place and honorable mention.

For the category of Deadline/Spot News Reporting, the Times picked up three awards. Jessica Stith was given the Award of Excellence for her story, "Standoff ends after three women assaulted." Former sports reporter Marcus Fitzsimmons was given the Award of Merit for "Young players drawn to youthful Bowers." Stith and former Sports Editor John Brice received an honorable mention for the story "Summitt files for divorce."

In General Reporting, Mark Boxley received the Award of Excellence for "Hard Day's Work." Stith picked up third place for "APD nabs theft ring."

For the category of Feature Writing, Boxley received his second Award of Excellence for "The Cop and the addict." Stith was awarded third place for "Victims, know your rights."

For Series/Package/Project Writing, the Award of Excellence was awarded to the late Anna C. Irwin, Iva Butler, Stith and former education reporter Bonny C. Millard for "Four children die in fire." The Award of Merit was given to Boxley, Butler and Fitzsimmons for "Shock and sadness." Fitzsimmons also received third place for "USA South football preview."

Stith and former Business Editor Rick Laney swept the category of Investigative Reporting. The duo received the Award of Excellence for "County tuition reimbursement." Laney picked up the Award of Merit for "Immigrant: Judge told me to go home." Stith received third place for "FBI probes drug task force truck deal."

In the category of Sports Reporting, Fitzsimmons received the Award of Excellence for "Scots score GSAC title in 13-6 win." Leonard Butts was given second place for "Ann Baker Furrow inducted." Brice received third place for "Steadying force."

For Personal Columns, Steve Wildsmith received the Award of Excellence. The Award of Merit was given to Brice. Blount Voice Editor Timothy Hankins received third place in the division for non-daily newspapers.

Wildsmith also picked up the Award of Excellence for the category of Reviews/Criticism.

In Page One Design, Richard Dodson was given the Award of Excellence. Amanda Greever received the Award of Merit.

For Inside Page Design, Greever received the Award of Merit. Frank "Buzz" Trexler received third place.

For the category of Photo Illustrations, entries were not judged by divisions, but rather as a whole. Daryl Sullivan received third place for "The pain of pollen."

In Deadline Photography, Sullivan received the Award of Excellence for "Fatal Crash." The Award of Merit was given to Joy Kimbrough for "Tearful reunion" Mark A. Large was given third place for "Fiery struggle."

In Feature Photography, Tom Sherlin received the Award of Excellence for "SEC Champs." Large was given the Award of Merit for "Run for the money." Sherlin also received third place for "Teamwork."