It’s not earth-shattering news that the St. Petersburg Times is winning a lot more major journalism writing awards than the Tampa Tribune. But as we ramp up to the excitement that is the 2006 Pulitzer Prizes (set to be announced Monday, April 17 at 3 p.m.), here is a rundown on the some of the more prestigious awards that local writers and photographers have received:
In the National Headliners Awards, the Times’ Kelley Benham took first place, followed by a second place for Lane DeGregory in the Feature Writing on a Variety of Subjects category. I love both their styles and stories (disclaimer: Benham is an old friend, but that doesn’t mean she can’t write the shit out of a tale). The Oscar buzz, however, is all about DeGregory, according to Editor and Publisher magazine, which speculated last week that DeGregory could be a finalist in the feature category on the heels of her winning an American Society of Newspaper Editors Award for non-deadline reporting.
Other National Headliner winners were: Thomas French, Christopher Goffard and Jamie Thompson, a second place award for their “The Hard Road: Inside the Jennifer Porter Case†news series; John Pendygraft, first place for photo portfiolio and second place for hurricane coverage; Ken Helle, second place for spot news photography; and Chris Zuppa, second place for feature news photography.
The Tribune received no awards from neither the ASNE nor the National Headliners.
This article appears in Mar 8-14, 2006.