Here Are the Winners of the AASFE ‘Excellence in Feature Writing and Online’ Contest

The American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors today announced its selections for outstanding features and online writing.

Among the many winners: Newsday‘s Linda Winer in the category of General Commentary; The Associated Press‘ Samantha Critchell in Feature Specialty Reporting; and the Chicago Sun-Times‘ Roger Ebert in Blogging.

List of winners after the jump.

Division One (under 90,000 circulation)

General Feature

• 1st place: Colleen Kenney, Lincoln Journal Star
• 2nd place: Amy Hotz, Wilmington Star News
• 3rd place: Paul Grondahl, Albany Times Union

Honorable Mentions:

• Lorraine Ahearn, (Greensboro, North Carolina) News & Record
• Joe Duggan, Lincoln Journal Star
• Colleen Kenney, Lincoln Journal Star

Short Feature

• 1st place: Colleen Kenney, Lincoln Journal Star
• 2nd place: Allyson Bird, Charleston Post and Courier
• 3rd place: Kyle Kennedy, The (Lakeland) Ledger

Honorable Mentions:

• Cindy Lange-Kubick, Lincoln Journal Star
• Ray Routhier, (Portland, Maine) Press Herald
• Tom Keyser, Albany Times Union

General Commentary

• 1st place: Alicia Blaisdell-Bannon, Cape Cod Times
• 2nd place: Isaac Bailey, The Sun News
• 3rd place: Cindy Lange-Kubick, Lincoln Journal Star

Honorable Mention:

• Tracey O’Shaughnessy, Republican-American

Feature Specialty Reporting

• 1st place: Cary McMullen, The (Lakeland) Ledger
• 2nd place: Jennifer Gish, Albany Times Union
• 3rd place Colleen Kenney, Lincoln Journal Star

Honorable Mention:

• Charles Runnells, Fort Myers News-Press

A&E Feature

• 1st place: Colleen Kenney, Lincoln Journal Star
• 2nd place: Carrie MacMillan, Republican-American
• 3rd place: Brynn Mandel, Republican-American

Honorable Mentions:

• Jeff Korbelik, Lincoln Journal Star
• Brian Mackey, The (Springfield) State Journal-Register
• Brett Johnson, Ventura County Star

Online Categories:

Blogging

• 1st place: Kristi Gustafson, Albany Times Union
• 2nd place: Lindsay Nair, The Roanoke Times
• 3rd place: Andrea Martin, Carla Seward, Margaret Wimmer, Robert Lopez and Faun Finley (Greensboro, South Carolina) News & Record

Multi Media Storytelling

• 1st place: Under 21, The Roanoke Times

http://www.roanoke.com/multimedia/under21/main/index.html

• 2nd place: The Mountains of Roanoke Valley, The Roanoke Times
• 3rd place: Hunger, The Fort Myers News-Press

Honorable Mentions:

• True Grit, Lincoln Journal Star
• Why not DIY? Albany Times Union

Social Media Enterprise

• 1st place: Jeff’s Top 5, Lincoln Journal Star
• 2nd place: Tournament of Carols, Albany Times Union

Division 2 (90,001-199,999 circulation)

General Feature:

• 1st place: Tony Plohetski, Austin American-Statesman
• 2nd place: Mark Johnson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Matt Ehlers, The (Raleigh) News and Observer (tie)

Honorable Mentions:

• Donna Keohn, The Tampa Tribune
• Jessica Bliss, The Tennessean

Short Feature:

• 1st place: Hart Seely, The (Syracuse) Post-Standard
• 2nd place: Greg Borowski, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
• 3rd place: Lorraine Eaton, The Virginian-Pilot

General Commentary:

• 1st place: Leslie Linthicum, The Albuquerque Journal
• 2nd place: Mike Thomas, The Orlando Sentinel
• 3rd place: Mary Louise Schumacher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Honorable Mention:

• Michael Sragow, The Baltimore Sun

Feature Specialty Reporting:

• 1st place: Kristin Davis, The Virginian-Pilot
• 2nd place: Kevin Robbins, Austin American-Statesman
• 3rd place: Rene A. Guzman, San Antonio News-Express

A&E Feature:

• 1st place: Peter Cooper, The Tennessean
• 2nd place: Doug MacCash, The Times Picayune
• 3rd place: Mary Carole McCauley, The Baltimore Sun

Honorable Mentions:

• John Przybys, Las Vegas Review-Journal
• Sandra Sperounes, Edmonton Journal

Online Categories:

Blogging:

• 1st place: Alison Sherwood, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
• 2nd place: Renee Studebaker, Austin American-Statesman
• 3rd place: Mary Louise Schumacher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Multi Media Storytelling

• 1st place: Gambling Addiction, Las Vegas Sun Staff
• 2nd place: Sculpture Park, Michael Morain, The Des Moines Register
• 3rd place: Changed in a Moment, Elizabeth Simpson, Stephen M. Katz, Mirand Mulligan, The Virginian-Pilot

Honorable Mentions:

• The Great Race, William Loeffler, Justin LaBar, Steve Adams, Steve Segal, Christine Zirngibl, Pittsburgh Tribune Review
• Moon landing, Karl Merton Ferron, The Baltimore Sun
• Multimedium, Mary Ann Roser, Ralph Barrera, Jenni Jones, Austin American- Statesman
• Fort Hood, Jay Janner, Rodolfo Gonzales, Ricardo Brazziel, Jenni Jones, Austin American-Statesman

Social Media Enterprise

• 1st place: Addie Broyles, Austin American Statesman
• 2nd place: Mary Louise Schumacher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
• 3rd place: The Tennessean

Division 3 (more than 200,000 circulation)

General Feature

• 1st place: Laura Blumenfeld, The Washington Post
• 2nd place: Jaimee Rose, The Arizona Republic
• 3rd place: Shari Roan, The Los Angeles Times

Honorable Mentions:

• Todd C. Frankel, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
• Scott Farwell, Dallas Morning News
• Jeff Seidel, Detroit Free Press

Short Feature

• 1st place: Michael Kruse, St. Petersburg Times
• 2nd place: Lee Hill Kavanaugh, Kansas City Star
• 3rd place: John Barry, St. Petersburg Times

Honorable Mention:

• Linia S. Kadaba, The Philadelphia Inquirer

General Commentary

• 1st place: Philip Kennicott, The Washington Post
• 2nd place: Linda Winer, Newsday
• 3rd place: Elizabeth Wellington, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Honorable Mention:

• Carrie Sturrock, The Oregonian

Feature Specialty Reporting

• 1st place: Lane DeGregory, St. Petersburg Times
• 2nd place: Robin Givhan, The Washington Post
• 3rd place: Samantha Critchell, The Associated Press

Honorable Mention:

• Greg Morago, Houston Chronicle

A&E Feature

• 1st place: John Barry, St. Petersburg Times
• 2nd place: Neely Tucker, The Washington Post
• 3rd place: Cindy Hoedel, Kansas City Star

Honorable Mentions:

• Tony Brown, Cleveland Plain Dealer
• Jeff Klinkenberg, St. Petersburg Times
• Brian McCollum, Detroit Free Press

Online Categories:

Blogging:

• 1st place: Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
• 2nd place: Gabriel Campanario, Seattle Times
• 3rd place: Liz Kelly, The Washington Post

Honorable Mentions:

• Steve Spears, St. Petersburg Times
• Eric Deggans, St. Petersburg Times

Multi Media Storytelling

• 1st place: For Their Own Good, TampaBay.com
• 2nd place: Motown, Freep.com (Detroit Free Press)
• 3rd place: Scene In, The Washington Post

Honorable Mention:

• Choosing Thomas, Dallas Morning News

Social Media Enterprise

• 1st place: Mom2Mom, Kady McMaster, Kansas City Star
• 2nd place: Houston Chronicle

(h/t Romenesko)

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