Review-Journal writers, editors honored in Best of the West awards
Las Vegas Review-Journal writers and editors won three awards in the 2016 Best of the West journalism contest and grants program.
“The Review-Journal’s showing in this year’s Best of the West contest is a testament to the talent in our newsroom as well as the high quality of work our staff consistently produces. This is an incredibly competitive contest,” said Managing Editor Glenn Cook.
Matthew Crowley earned first place in headline writing for his portfolio including “Cheers Amid the Booze,” “Calculated Whisk” and “The Shoe Must Go On.”
“These were really fun, compelling headlines that made me want to read the stories,” judge Chick Howland, news editor of the Kansas City Star, wrote. “The heads also accurately conveyed what the stories were about, and the decks played well off the main heads.”
”Calculated Whisk” and its accompanying deck, “Supercomputer Watson turns chef; surprising fare results,” enticed readers to delve into a Washington Post story about a cookbook published by the IBM computer system Watson, and chefs from the Institute of Culinary Education in New York. “Cheers Amid the Booze” led readers into a report about Henderson’s artisan alcohol district. ”The shoe must go on” accompanied a story about a performance of “Cinderella” at The Smith Center.
This is the second year in a row that Crowley has placed first in the headline writing category, which received 25 entries.
The staff at the Review-Journal won second place in investigative reporting for its coverage of the newspaper’s December sale to anonymous local investors. The Review-Journal investigation revealed the family of casino executive Sheldon Adelson was the buyer.
“Gutsy and pugnacious examination of the machinations behind the sale of the Las Vegas Review-Journal,” said judge Casey Frank, Miami Herald investigations editor. The category received 34 entries.
Coverage of the sale also earned some members of the RJ team this year’s Ancil Payne Award for Ethics in Journalism, given by the University of Oregon; a Sidney Award from the Sidney Hillman Foundation; and the 2015 James Foley Medill Medal for Courage in Journalism from Northwestern University.
Mike Baker and Daniel Wagner of the Seattle Times earned first place in this category, with an investigative look into predatory practices in the mobile home industry.
Review-Journal movie and television critic Christopher Lawrence won third place in special topic column writing for reviews on such films as “Fifty Shades of Grey,” “Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2” and “Magic Mike XXL.”
“Stylish, entertaining writing that also shows a deep knowledge of Las Vegas entertainment culture,” judge Inga Saffron, architecture critic for The Philadelphia Inquirer, wrote. The special topic column writing category received 31 entries.
The 2016 contest was open to the original work published in 2015 in a newspaper or magazine in the West, on a news or opinion website, tablet or app that primarily serves the West or in an area of a website that primarily serves the West.
RJ writers and editors were up against media outlets in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
Contact Natalie Bruzda at nbruzda@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3897. Find @NatalieBruzda on Twitter.
