Chattanooga Times Free Press wins 21 awards in state contest

The Chattanooga Times Free Press received 21 awards, including eight first-place honors, in the 2015 Tennessee Associated Press Managing Editors journalism contest.

The newspaper's first-place awards ranges from reporting and photography to multimedia categories.

Reporter Kevin Hardy received the inaugural John Seigenthaler Award of Excellence for his reporting on former Chattanooga State Community College president Jim Catanzaro. The Seigenthaler award recognizes reporting that "uses public records to shed light on an important community matter."

The award is named for the legendary Tennessean editor and First Amendment advocate who died last year. Seigenthaler had "a lifelong commitment to watchdog reporting and public service," said Ken Paulson, dean of the Middle Tennessee State University College of Mass Communications, who presented the award.

Times Free Press Projects Editor Joan Garrett McClane was honored as Tennessee newspaper Journalist of the Year for a collection of her work that included a series on suicides and feature stories on Hope Hospice founder Deanna Duncan and educator and activist Franklin McCallie.

Other first-place awards went to:

* Pam Sohn in editorial writing for Times page editorials.

* McClane for feature writing for "The privilege and burden of Franklin McCallie."

* Doug Strickland for photojournalism for "The Cruelest Equation," a story about a woman whose two sons suffered from a rare genetic disease.

* Jim Tanner in sports and outdoors reporting for coverage of the Lookout Mountain crash that injured cyclist Taylor Phinney in the USA Cycling men's national road race championship.

* Mary Helen Miller and Maura Friedman in two categories -- website and multimedia -- for Amendment One, about the history of abortion in Chattanooga.

The Times Free Press was recognized as a finalist in 13 categories:

* McClane for feature writing (as second and third place).

* Hardy for feature writing for "Even Unto Death," about snake-handling preachers.

* Dan Henry and Hardy in the best website category for "Even Unto Death."

* Clint Cooper in the editorial writing category for Free Press page editorials.

* Tanner in sports and outdoors reporting for coverage of Chattanooga's inaugural Ironman.

* Ellis Smith in business reporting for his coverage of the indictment in New York of Chattanooga payday lender Carey V. Brown.

* Mike Pare in business reporting for coverage of Volks-wagen's decision to expand its Chattanooga plant in order to build an SUV.

* Shelly Bradbury for daily deadline reporting for a collection of work covering crime.

* Friedman for photojournalism for photographs for "Means Matters," a project on suicides.

* Henry for feature photography for "Even Unto Death."

* Bradbury, Smith and Alex Green for EMBEDDED, a series of short videos designed to give a first- person look at jobs across the region.

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