Society of Professional JournalistsKNOXVILLE – The Chattanooga Times Free Press took home 10 first-place Golden Press Card awards for journalism excellence Friday from the East Tennessee Society of Professional Journalists.
Additionally, the staff garnered six second-place honors, two third-place laurels and two honorable mentions – to total 20 journalism awards for work in 2011.
In deadline and breaking news reporting for daily newspapers with a circulation of more than 25,000, the Award of Excellence, or first place, went to the news staff for “Catastrophic,” the coverage of the April 27, 2011 tornadoes. Judges called the reporting “a real service” that provided “exhaustive coverage of a devastating event, told with necessary detail and sensitivity.”
In feature writing/reporting, Pam Sohn won a first place for “Saving Mary,” the story of a homeless and mentally challenged woman and the Good Samaritan who helped her. Judges said her “well-written and moving piece was both heartbreaking and uplifting.”
Photographer Angela Lewis won two first-place photography awards – one for deadline photography of tornado cleanup and another for online use of photos for her work on the “Saving Mary” story. Lewis also received an honorable mention for a photo illustration titled “Hidden Appeal.”