By Don Nelson
Journalism awards are a bit incestuous and self-congratulatory, in that most awards programs are administered and judged by other journalists. I suppose that is the case in other professions as well (I doubt that doctors or lawyers would ask insurance agents or airline pilots to bestow awards in the medical and legal professions).
That said, those of us in the news business do recognize and like to acknowledge good work when we see it — hence the prestige of such institutions as the Pulitzer Prizes, and the lesser but still appreciated renown of regional, state and local journalism contests.
Somewhere in between comes the national Sigma Delta Chi Excellence in Journalism Awards sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists. After the Pulitzers, Sigma Delta Chi is recognized as one of the most noteworthy national contests in the print and broadcast arenas.
That is to say, it’s a pretty big deal, which is why I am unabashedly proud that the Methow Valley News has won a Sigma Delta Chi Award in the breaking news category for non-daily newspapers, for a story about the Carlton Complex Fire written by reporters Ann McCreary and Marcy Stamper. Simply put, their story was judged the best breaking news effort by a non-daily newspaper in the country during 2014, in the consideration of the contest judges.
I thought it was too, but that was just me being proud of their work and hoping someone else would think so. In journalism awards contests, it’s always a crapshoot. Judges can go any number of directions for any number of reasons, and a winning entry in one contest might not even rate an honorable mention in another. I have been a judge for dozens of contests all the way up to the national level, and I always take the task seriously to appropriately honor the work of my colleagues.
Ann and Marcy would be the first to tell you that their much-deserved award was the result of a team effort under extreme conditions. The story was reported and written during the week the entire valley was without power and, in some ways, essentially cut off from the rest of the world. Looking at it now, I’m still amazed at how much they accomplished in terms of reporting and crafting a readable narrative of harrowing events.
As I’ve noted before, journalists don’t sit around hoping for disasters, but when they occur in our backyard we throw ourselves into coverage with everything we’ve got — passion, energy and heart. While other media outlet representatives came and went during last summer’s events, we were here to chronicle it all, not only because it’s our job but also because we love this community for its resilience and compassion, and want to accurately reflect that.
It’s especially pleasing to me to see the work of smaller newspapers get some attention. I’ve worked at many larger publications in bigger markets, and I think the community journalism provided by weeklies around the country is every bit as important and impactful as that provided by the exalted dailies.
There’s no money involved (Ann and Marcy are entitled to a free lunch at the awards banquet in Washington, D.C., in June if we can figure out a way to get them there). We do get a plaque. And for as long as the awards are around, the Methow Valley News will be included in the distinguished list of past winners. It’s not exactly immortality, but it will always be something we can point to with pride.
We couldn’t do any of this work without the support of our readers, advertisers and fans around the world. Thanks to all of you for your help and encouragement, which mean everything to us.
