Chattanooga Times Free Press wins national innovation award

The Chattanooga Times Free Press is located at 400 East 11th Street.
The Chattanooga Times Free Press is located at 400 East 11th Street.

The Chattanooga Times Free Press received a first-place award in the 2016 Associated Press Media Editors Innovation in Journalism Awards.

The newspaper received the Innovation in News Reporting award in the 40,000- to 149,999-circulation category for "A Nightmare for Our City," coverage of the July 16 shooting that killed five military members in Chattanooga. The Baltimore Sun received an honorable mention in that category for coverage of the death of Freddie Gray and riots that followed.

The Innovation in News Reporting award is judged on how an organization reports "on a breaking news event or issue by combining urgent, compelling reporting with innovative tools that advance and enhance the audience experience," according to APME.

The paper's entry included news stories as well as video and interactive digital elements about the shooting by Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez of four U.S. Marines and a Navy petty officer. The FBI's director later said Abdulazeez was inspired by a foreign terrorist organization's propaganda.

"This event traumatized our community. We took very seriously our responsibility to cover the tragedy and provide up-to-the minute information to our readers," said Alison Gerber, editor of the Times Free Press. "We're humbled that our coverage was honored, because our journalists did their best to document the crime and report on its aftermath with sensitivity. Obviously, we hope we never again have to cover a tragedy of this magnitude in Chattanooga."

See the coverage of the shooting at www.timesfreepress.com/shootings.

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