Navajo Times earns top newspaper honors

PHOENIX (AP) – The Arizona Republic and Navajo Times earned top honors Saturday at the Arizona Newspaper Association’s annual fall convention.

The Republic won daily honors and the Navajo Times claimed the weekly award for Arizona Newspaper of the Year, presented Saturday at the Wild Horse Pass Hotel and Casino.

Journalists were also honored for their stories and individual accomplishments. Hank Stephenson of the Arizona Capitol Times won 2016 Story of the Year in the non-daily category for “Gowan’s Mystery Mileage,” which exposed the use of taxpayer-funded rental cars by House Speaker David Gowan as he traveled the state during his failed bid for Congress. Michael Kiefer of the Arizona Republic won Story of the Year for daily newspapers for his piece “Bonnie and Clyde for the Millennials” about a series of bank heists.

Stephanie Innes of the Arizona Daily Star and Michele Nelson of Payson Roundup were named the Journalists of the Year. Mike Christy of the Star and Arianna Grainey of the Apache Junction/Gold Canyon Independent were named Photographers of the Year.

Today’s News-Herald of Lake Havasu City was named Associated Press Member of the Year.

Here is a list of the winners in each category:

GENERAL EXCELLENCE
Division 3: Non-Daily circulation greater than 10,000

1st Place, Phoenix Business Journal, Publisher: Ray Schey

2nd Place, Navajo Times, Publisher: Tom Aviso Jr.

3rd Place, West Valley View, Publisher: Elliot Freireich


REPORTING & NEWSWRITING EXCELLENCE

Division 3: Non-Daily circulation greater than 10,000

1st Place, West Valley View

2nd Place, Navajo Times

3rd Place, Phoenix Business Journal


DEPARTMENTAL NEWS & COPYWRITING EXCELLENCE

Division 3: Non-Daily circulation greater than 10,000

1st Place, Navajo Times

2nd Place, Phoenix Business Journal

3rd Place, West Valley View


PAGE DESIGN EXCELLENCE

Division 3: Non-Daily circulation greater than 10,000

1st Place, Phoenix Business Journal

2nd Place, Navajo Times

3rd Place, West Valley View


EDITORIAL PAGE EXCELLENCE

Division 3: Non-Daily circulation greater than 10,000

1st Place, Navajo Times

2nd Place, West Valley View

3rd Place, Phoenix Business Journal


BEST USE OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Division 3: Non-Daily circulation greater than 10,000

1st Place, Navajo Times

2nd Place, West Valley View

3rd Place, Phoenix Business Journal

NEWSPAPER ONLINE SITE/WEB PAGE

Division 3: Non-Daily circulation greater than 10,000

1st Place, Phoenix Business Journal

2nd Place, Navajo Times

3rd Place, West Valley View


BEST HEADLINE

Division 3: Non-Daily circulation greater than 10,000

1st Place, Glenn Gullickson, Various headlines, West Valley View

2nd Place, Cindy Yurth, Various headlines, Navajo Times

3rd Place, None Awarded

BEST NEWS STORY

Division 3: Non-Daily circulation greater than 10,000

1st Place, Christopher Pineo, `We need to change,’ Navajo Times

2nd Place, Jim Nintzel, Bern Notice, Tucson Weekly

3rd Place, Eric Jay Toll, Arizona’s Squeezed Economy, Phoenix Business Journal


BEST SUSTAINED COVERAGE OR SERIES

Division 3: Non-Daily circulation greater than 10,000

1st Place, Cindy Yurth, Alastair Bitsoi, Gold King Mine Spill, Navajo Times

Krista Allen, Alysa Landry, Sunnie Clahchischiligi

2nd Place, Richard Smith, Dysart override, Surprise Today

3rd Place, Jim Nintzel, Eastside Story, Tucson Weekly


BEST SPORTS STORY

Division 3: Non-Daily circulation greater than 10,000

1st Place, Chris Caraveo, 18 back surgeries can’t keep DV senior off courtGlendale-Peoria Today

2nd Place, Sunnie R. Clahchischiligi, Lacrosse, Navajo Times

3rd Place, Mike Sunnucks, Big League Dreams, Phoenix Business Journal


BEST TEAM, SPORT OR SPORTS BEAT COVERAGE

Division 3: Non-Daily circulation greater than 10,000

1st Place, Shane McOwen, Westview High School football- 2015, West Valley View

2nd Place, Quentin Jodie, Navajo Nation cowboys in the PRCA circuit, Navajo Times

3rd Place, Richard Smith, High School Football coverage, Glendale-Peoria Today


BEST SPORTS COLUMN

Division 3: Non-Daily circulation greater than 10,000

1st Place, Jason P. Skoda, High School Sports, East Valley Tribune

2nd Place, Brad Allis, Me, Jimmie Lee and Willie McGee, Explorer Newspaper

3rd Place, Sunnie R. Clahchischiligi, Goodbye to high school sports, Navajo Times

BEST FEATURE STORY

Division 3: Non-Daily circulation greater than 10,000

1st Place, Tina Gamez, Peoria explosion victims, Glendale-Peoria Today

2nd Place, Alastair Bitsoi, Shear enjoyments, Navajo Times

3rd Place, Maria Ines Taracena, Dignity, Tucson Weekly

BEST COLUMN, ANALYSIS OR COMMENTARY

Division 3: Non-Daily circulation greater than 10,000

1st Place, Jim Nintzel, Joint Technical Education Districts, Tucson Weekly

2nd Place, Cindy Yurth, Cindy Yurth Column Writing, Navajo Times

3rd Place, Duane Beyal, Shelly’s last blunder surprises Begaye, More than a statistic, Navajo Times


BEST COLUMN, FEATURE OR CRITICISM

Division 3: Non-Daily circulation greater than 10,000

1st Place, Jim Nintzel, Goodbye. Dad, Tucson Weekly

2nd Place, Cindy Yurth, Hubbell as hub, Good and raw, Navajo Times

3rd Place, Candace Begody, For Times’ youngest editor, persistence was key, Navajo Times


BEST NEWS PHOTOGRAPH

Division 3: Non-Daily circulation greater than 10,000

1st Place, Donovan Quintero, A night in the woods, Navajo Times

2nd Place, Elizabeth Medora, Dog Rescue, Foothills Focus

3rd Place, Donovan Quintero, `A heartbreaking situation’, Navajo Times


BEST SPORTS PHOTOGRAPH

Division 3: Non-Daily circulation greater than 10,000

1st Place, Arianna Grainey, Flight In Motion, Mesa Independent

2nd Place, Adron Gardner, Game winner, Navajo Times

3rd Place, Arianna Grainey, Will he be safe?, Mesa Independent


BEST FEATURE PHOTOGRAPH

Division 3: Non-Daily circulation greater than 10,000

1st Place, Donovan Quintero, 69th annual Navajo Nation Fair parade, Navajo Times

2nd Place, Jim Poulin, From Warrior to Worker, Phoenix Business Journal

3rd Place, Jim Poulin, Getting his message across, Phoenix Business Journal


BEST FEATURE PHOTO LAYOUT

Division 3: Non-Daily circulation greater than 10,000

1st Place, Donovan Quintero, 104th Northern Navajo Fair, Navajo Times

2nd Place, Donovan Quintero, Winter is here, Navajo Times

3rd Place, Donovan Quintero, 2015 Tobe Truppen Elementary Pageant, Navajo Times


NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR

Non-Daily

Navajo Times, Publisher: Tom Arviso Jr.

Daily

The Arizona Republic, Publisher: Mi-Ai Parrish