On Nov. 17, 2013, two F-2 tornadoes touched down in Kokomo, Indiana, causing an estimated $2.8 million dollars of damage to 300 homes and businesses. On Nov. 17, 2014, the Kokomo Tribune published a special section, "One Year Later." I wrote one of the main stories for this package, "Tornadoes damage 300 homes and commercial properties," in addition to three sidebars. You can view my story and the rest of the package online by clicking the links below:
Special section compilation video
I also contributed the audio from my interview with survivor Karen Glendenning for the accompanying video, "One year later: In their own words."
On April 17, 2015, the Indiana Associated Press Media Editors held their spring meeting at the Rathskeller in Indianapolis. The event also featured their 2015 IAPME Journalism Contest awards ceremony, during which the Kokomo Tribune won two awards, including a staff award for First Place for Best Multimedia Package. The Kokomo Tribune competed in Division 2, which covers newspapers with daily circulations of 20,000 to 49,999. AP member newspaper editors in Iowa judged the contest.
And you can read the entire winners list from the ceremony here:
Elkhart newspaper takes top honors in IAPME contest
The Associated Press | Posted: Friday, April 17, 2015 6:33 pmINDIANPOLIS (AP) — Anne Christnovich, Tim Vandenack, Sarah Welliver and the staff of The Elkhart Truth won top honors at the Indiana Associated Press Media Editors' awards ceremony Friday for their coverage of the five-year aftermath of the Great Recession.
Their package won the Kent Cooper award for best overall newswriting at the IAPME spring meeting held at the Rathskeller in Indianapolis.
Judges say the package offered a "true sense of the community and what it had gone through."
Erin McCracken of the Evansville Courier & Press won the Bushemi Sweepstakes Award for a photo titled "Thankful."
The Will Counts Photojournalism Award for the top young photojournalist went to Caitlin O'Hara, a 2014 Indiana University graduate and summer intern at The Herald in Jasper.
AP member newspaper editors in Iowa judged the contest.
Following are the contest winners in these circulation divisions:
— Division 1, newspapers with daily circulations of 50,000 or more.
— Division 2, newspapers with daily circulations of 20,000 to 49,999.
— Division 3, newspapers with daily circulations of 9,000 to 19,999.
— Division 4, newspapers with daily circulations of 8,999 or less.
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DIVISION 2
EDITORIAL WRITING:
1st place: Greg Halling, The Elkhart Truth, "LGBTQ Hiring Practices"
2nd Place: Max Jones, Tribune-Star, Terre Haute, "It's Time to End Divisive Battle"
3rd Place: Mark Bennett, Tribune-Star, Terre Haute, "Get Your Austerity Here!"
COLUMN WRITING (GENERAL INTEREST):
1st place: Douglas Walker, Keith Roysdon, The Star Press, Muncie
2nd Place: Mark Bennett, Tribune-Star, Terre Haute
FIRST AMENDMENT/COMMUNITY AFFAIRS:
1st place: Staff, Journal & Courier, Lafayette, "The Great Chicago Myth"
2nd Place: Seth Slabaugh, The Star Press, Muncie, "What Keeps BSU Sports Alfoat?"
COLUMN WRITING (SPORTS):
1st place: Bill Beck, The Elkhart Truth,
2nd Place: Blake Sebring, The News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne
3rd Place: Reggie Hayes, The News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne
NONDEADLINE SPORTS REPORTING:
1st place: Ben Breiner, The Star Press, Muncie, "Lucky to Be Sitting Here"
2nd Place: Jon Blau, The Herald-Times, Bloomington, "North's Wilson Carrying Torch for His Family"
3rd Place: Steve Krah, The Elkhart Truth, "Goshen Basketball Player Olivia Love Copes with Tragedy with Help from Family"
DEADLINE SPORTS REPORTING:
1st place: Bill Beck, The Elkhart Truth, "4A Semistate: Fickert Made Sure Northridge's Football Rise Will Continue"
2nd Place: Jeremy Price, The Herald-Times, Bloomington, "Moren Named IU Women's Basketball Coach"
3rd Place: Todd Golden, Tribune-Star, Terre Haute, "Guts, Sweat, Tears"
FEATURE WRITING:
1st place: Sarah Welliver, The Elkhart Truth, "Autistic Children Receive Help Living, Learning Through ABA Therapy"
2nd Place: Laura Lane, The Herald-Times, Bloomington, "Nothing Remains of Homestead"
3rd Place: Bill Beck, The Elkhart Truth, "Miguel Reyes Fights Brain Tumor with Help of Concord School Family"
FEATURE SERIES:
1st place: Anne Christnovich, Tim Vandenack, Sarah Welliver, Staff, The Elkhart Truth, "Five Years Later"
2nd Place: Sue Loughlin, Lisa Trigg, Tribune-Star, Terre Haute, "I-70 Stories: Behind the Numbers, There Are People"
3rd Place: Wei-Huan Chen, Journal and Courier, Lafayette, "Graffiti Warfare"
NONDEADLINE NEWS REPORTING:
1st place: Jon Blau, Rod Spaw, Abigail Tonsing, The Herald-Times, Bloomington, "Family Members Recall Crisis That Lead Up to 2 Deaths"
2nd Place: Seth Slabaugh, Keith Roysdon, Douglas Walker, The Star Press, Muncie, "Ball State University Swindled"
3rd Place: Jeff Parrott, The Elkhart Truth, "Tragic Elkhart Fire that Killed 6 Kids in 1998 Still Haunts Community"
DEADLINE NEWS REPORTING:
1st place: Staff, Journal & Courier, Lafayette, "Purdue Shooting"
2nd Place: Angelle Barbazon, Emily Taylor, Krystal Vivian, Staff, The Elkhart Truth, "Gay Marriage Ban Struck Down in Indiana"
3rd Place: Staff, The Elkhart Truth, "Shooting Tragedy at Martin's Super Market"
HEADLINE WRITING:
1st place: Deb Sprong, The Elkhart Truth
2nd Place: Deb Sprong, The Elkhart Truth
USE OF GRAPHICS:
1st place: Staff, Kokomo Tribune, "At the Fair"
PAGE ONE MAKE-UP:
1st place: James Willis, Alicia Morgan, Tribune-Star, Terre Haute, "Cold Case Heats Up"
2nd Place: Jennifer Tilley, Janice Rickert, Bill Thornbro, Penny Reid, The Herald-Times, Bloomington, "Concrete Embezzlement Conspiracy"
3rd Place: Brad Saleik, The News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, "Examining the Soul of a School"
MULTIMEDIA PACKAGE:
1st place: Staff, Kokomo Tribune, "Tornado: One Year Later"
2nd Place: Staff, The News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, "50 Years of IPFW"
3rd Place: Bill Beck, Sarah Welliver, The Elkhart Truth, "Concord Coach Tim Dawson Hopes Football Rekindles Fire after His Son's Death"
BEST USE OF DIGITAL PLATFORMS:
1st place: Gwen Ragno, Natasha Tucker, staff, The Elkhart Truth, "Flavor 574"
2nd Place: Staff, Tribune-Star, Terre Haute
3rd Place: Ryan Martin, Damon Null, Amanda Mitchell, Staff, The Elkhart Truth
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On Dec. 5, 2015 at the 2015 Hoosier State Press Association Foundation Better Newspaper Contest Awards Luncheon and Newsroom Seminar at the Indianapolis Marriott North, I, along with the rest of the Kokomo Tribune staff, won First Place for Best Special Section.
The Kokomo Tribune competes in Division 5, which comprises daily newspapers with circulations between 14,000 and 34,999.
Here are the judges' notes:
"The staff left no story unturned in documenting the year-after recovery from a devastating tornado. Powerful personal stories and gripping photos, plus extensive digital content."
This was one of 15 awards the Kokomo Tribune won that day. Here is the full story about it:
Kokomo Tribune wins 15 awards in contest
From Staff Reports | Posted: Saturday, December 5, 2015 7:01 pmThe Kokomo Tribune brought home 15 awards at this year’s Hoosier State Press Association Foundation Better Newspaper Contest.
The results were announced at the 49th annual awards luncheon Saturday at the Indianapolis Marriott North. Work submitted to the contest was published between July 1, 2014, and June 30, 2015.
The Tribune’s staff as a whole won first place in the Best Special Section category for the entry, “One Year Later.” “The staff left no story unturned in documenting the year-after recovery from a devastating tornado,” wrote the judges. “Powerful personal stories and gripping photos, plus extensive digital content.”
The Tribune received a second place nod for General Excellence. “The General Excellence Award is given to one paper in each of the six circulation divisions based on a point system,” wrote the judges. “Winners in this category should exemplify excellence in all aspects of newspaper publication, including mechanical excellence, editorial content and appearance.”
The Tribune also won second place in the Best Online Site/Web Page category for the homepage, www.kokomotribune.com. “The top module on the homepage gives the user a good quick scan of stories and the ability to quickly find something that interests you,” wrote the judges. “The mobile experience is good. The photos used for the thumbnails were well chosen to help draw you into the posts.”
Several individual Tribune staffers were awarded top honors for their work.
First place for Best Editorial Cartoonist in the daily category went to Gene Herndon. First place in the Best Editorial Writer category went to Jeff Kovaleski. First place in the Best Use of Graphics category went to Rodney Ogle.
First place in the Best Community Service category went to Carson Gerber for his entry, “Mental health.” “The breadth and depth of this project on the lack of mental health resources makes it a top winner in the community service category,” wrote the judges. “The stories were thorough, informative and well-written.”
Josh Sigler won first place for Best Sports News or Feature Coverage for his story, “Concussions: Scary situations.” “Very informative,” the judges wrote. “Good use of pullouts and online extras. Also very well written on top of all of that.” Sigler also won second place in the Best Sports Feature Photo for photo accompanying this story. “The timely, national issue gives gravitas to this,” wrote the judges.
Martin Slagter won third place in the Best Feature Section or Pages category. “Good localizing features,” wrote the judges. “Some pages were a little busy.”
The Tribune’s photography staff was also decorated for their work.
Tim Bath won second place in the Best General News Photo category for his photo, “Dad.” “Emotion and excitement was captured best in the frame before the hug,” wrote the judges.
Kelly Lafferty Gerber won a total of four awards at the ceremony. She took first place in the Best General News Photo category for her photo, “Reunion.” “Two touching moments captured simultaneously,” wrote the judges. She won third place in the Best Feature Photo category for her photo, “Adopt.” “You have photographed love, which isn’t easy,” wrote the judges. She won first place in the Best Picture Story with Audio or Video Story category for her entry, “The Girl Who Didn’t Quit.” “I loved the beginning of this video,” wrote the judges. “It showed her ‘girliness’ and really drew me into the story. I liked the inclusion of her practicing and other team activities, especially the photographer taking her portrait. The only thing that was missing for me was game action and her reacting after a play or being tired after the game. Nice job.” She also won third place in the same category for her entry, “Beauty.” "It was a nice human interest story,” wrote the judges. “I liked the addition of photos in the video. The hairdresser was cute, and she had a nice story that was told well.”
The Kokomo Tribune competes in Division 5, which covers daily newspapers with circulations between 14,000 and 34,999.
The HSPA, founded in 1933, is a trade association representing 167 daily and weekly paid-circulation newspapers in Indiana, according to its website. HSPA provides legal information, training and other services to its members.