If you’re keeping score, Fort Worth Weekly rocked the house at the Houston Press Club’s journalism awards banquet over the weekend. In the small-newspaper division of the club’s statewide contest, Weekly writers brought home firsts in five of eight categories and former Weeklintern Sarah Perry from the University of North Texas tied for first place in the student news/feature category.
Staffer Peter Gorman came away with two key honors: print journalist of the year and the public service award. The public service win was for “Sacrificed to Shale,” his story about the gas-beleaguered town of DISH. The judges wrote that Peter’s “knowledge and breadth of reporting has helped change the public debate about the shale industry.”
Here’s the full list for the newspapers-under-100,000-circulation division:
Print Journalist of the Year
First: Peter Gorman, Fort Worth Weekly
2nd: Kathy Swindle Cruz, Hood County News
3rd: Greg Harman, San Antonio Current
News or Feature Story
1st: Elaine Wolff, San Antonio Current
2nd: Jeff Prince, Fort Worth Weekly
3rd: Jim Molony, Pearland/Friendswood Journals
Investigative Reporting
1st: Betty Brink, Fort Worth Weekly (for “Taj Mahal on the Trinity,” about the Tarrant County College downtown campus fiasco)
2nd: Eric Griffey, Fort Worth Weekly
3rd: Greg Schwartz, San Antonio Current
Public Service
1st: Peter Gorman, Fort Worth Weekly
2nd: Kathy Swindle Cruz, Hood County News
3rd: Greg Harman, San Antonio Current
Politics/Government
1st: Jeff Prince (for “Copping a Comfy Retirement,” about the increasing pressure on city budgets from police and fire retirement benefits)
2nd: Peter Gorman
3rd: Eric Griffey and Betty Brink, Fort Worth Weekly
Business Story
1st: Dan McGraw, Fort Worth Weekly (for “Worth the Paper They’re Written On,” about gas companies backing out of royalty and bonus deals)
2nd and 3rd: Greg Barr, Houston Business Journal
General Commentary/Criticism
1st: John Browning, Rockwall County Herald Banner
2nd: Jimmy Fowler, Fort Worth Weekly
3rd: Anthony Mariani, Fort Worth Weekly
Sports Story
1st and 2nd: Bill Martin, Rockdale Reporter
3rd: Matt Samuels, Jewish Herald-Voice
Student/News, Sports or Feature
1st Place tie: Madeleine McCaleb of San Antonio Christian High school and
Sarah Perry, UNT/Fort Worth Weekly (for “Breeding Trouble,” about puppy mills in North Texas)
