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