APSE judging thread

I know of a paper, major paper, 200K-plus, that allows 25-30 inches for basic gamers. 60-70 inches for an 'in-depth' feature or enterprise piece, not some out of the ordinary, once-in-a-year story.

I remember that when I'm writing 16-inch gamers and 14-inch features.

 

I've won before when I didn't think I would.

I've lost before when I was sure I would win.

Trust me on this: Some people will say congrats and you'll feel good about winning (as you should), or maybe you didn't win and you're pissed off, but 24 hours from now all that will matter is that you file your next story on time.

 

The Poynter people think so, but I don't. There is a stigma to the tabloid format -- advertisers correctly perceive it as a downscale product. The fact is that the U.S. tabs are struggling financially a lot more than broadsheets. It would be a suicidal move. What I think will happen is a few broadsheets will try it and the rest will hang back to see what happens. And what they'll see is that it will do more harm than good. Tempe was among a few papers that tried this in the 1980s and eventually switched back. Jersey City is doing it now. It saves newsprint, but it helps in no other way and usually hurts.

 

My mom always said I was a winner - no matter what I did.
Thanks for going on record; your sentiments are exactly how I feel about these awards. Congrats to all.

I just sometimes wish there was some kind of monetary kickback for each award. Wouldn't that be lovely?

 

Three writing winners from Fredericksburg, Va.?

Those guys must be doing something right ....

 

Adam Himmelsbach from there worked under me way back in the day when he was a young pup and he was one of the most talented young writers I've ever run across. I was happy for him when he got the job there and I'm more thrilled for him now because he's honored for being a good writer in APSE almost every year. Congrats to him and to all the winners!

 

The complete list ...

250,000 AND ABOVE

BREAKING NEWS STORY

Dave Curtis, Orlando Sentinel; Ken Davidoff, Newsday; Mike DeArmond, Kansas City Star; Gordon Edes , Boston Globe; George King, New York Post; Dick Jerardi, Philadelphia Daily News; Jeff Legwold and Kevin Vaughan, Rocky Mountain News; Juliet Macur, New York Times; Diane Pucin, Los Angeles Times; Joseph A. Reaves, Craig Harris and Nick Piecoro, Arizona Republic.

COLUMNS

Harvey Araton, New York Times; Thomas Boswell, Washington Post; John Canzano, The Oregonian; Gwen Knapp, San Francisco Chronicle; Rick Morrissey, Chicago Tribune; Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times; Joe Posnanski, Kansas City Star; Selena Roberts, New York Times; Michael Rosenberg, Detroit Free Press; Kevin Sherrington, Dallas Morning News.

FEATURE STORY

Bill Briggs, Denver Post; Stan Grossfeld, Boston Globe; Dave Hyde, South Florida Sun-Sentinel; Mark Kram, Philadelphia Daily News; Juliet Macur, New York Times; Kevin Manahan, Newark Star-Ledger; Elizabeth Merrill, Kansas City Star; Brad Townsend, Dallas Morning News; Mike Wagner, Columbus Dispatch; Mike Wise, Washington Post.

GAME STORY

Erik Brady, USA Today; Mike Bresnahan, Los Angeles Times; Chris Dufresne, Los Angeles Times; Rich Hofmann, Philadelphia Daily News; Steve Hummer, Atlanta Journal Constitution; Dick Jerardi, Philadelphia Daily News; Chris Jenkins, San Diego Union-Tribune; Rick Maese, Baltimore Sun; Kevin Manahan, Newark Star-Ledger; Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune.

EXPLANATORY

Gordon Edes, Boston Globe; John Eisenberg, Baltimore Sun; Harvey Fialkov, South Florida Sun-Sentinel; Ed Hinton, Orlando Sentinel; Bill Reiter, Kansas City Star; Eli Saslow, Washington Post; Dave Scheiber, St. Petersburg Times; Eric Sharp, Detroit Free Press; Daniel Uthman, The Oregonian; Jon Wilner, San Jose Mercury News.

PROJECT REPORTING

Bob Hohler, Boston Globe; Mark Alesia, Indianapolis Star; Randy Covitz, Bob Dutton, J. Brady McCollough, Sam Mellinger, Jeff Passan, Joe Posnanski, Matt Stearns and Wright Thompson, Kansas City Star; Lonnie White and Gary Klein, Los Angeles Times; Kevin Baxter, Miami Herald; Richard Meryhew, Rachel Blount and Jay Weiner, Minneapolis Star Tribune; Brian Baxter, Ian Begley, Filip Bondy, Peter Botte, Rich Cimini, Wayne Coffey, John Dellapina, Bill Gallo, Frank Isola, Mitch Lawrence, Mike Lupica, Bill Madden, Anthony McCarron, Michael Obernauer, Sean O’Connell, Bob Raissman, Christian Red, Sherry Ross, Roger Rubin, Ebenezer Samuel, Tim Smith, Jesse Spector, Ralph Vacchiano and Vic Ziegel, New York Daily News; Jere Longman, New York Times; Joe Freeman, Oregonian; Jodi Upton, Steve Wieberg, Michael McCarthy, Steve Berkowitz and Kelly Whiteside, USA Today.

 

100,000-250,000

BREAKING NEWS

Rick Cantu, Austin (Texas) American-Statesman; Jeff Darlington, Palm Beach Post; Jody Demling, Louisville Courier-Journal; Clint Hale, San Antonio Express-News; John E. Hoover, Tulsa (Okla.) World; Sean Jensen, St. Paul Pioneer Press; Tom Orsborn, San Antonio Express-News; Randy Peterson, Des Moines Register; Sam Weinman, Westchester Journal News in New York; Gordon Wittenmyer, St. Paul Pioneer Press.

COLUMNS

Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Geoff Calkins, Memphis Commercial Appeal; Martin Fennelly, Tampa Tribune; Ed Graney, Las Vegas Review-Journal; Joe Henderson, Tampa Tribune; Matt James, Fresno Bee; Gordie Jones, Allentown Morning Call; Ian O’Connor, Westchester Journal News; Tom Powers, St. Paul Pioneer Press; Jerry Sullivan, Buffalo News.

FEATURE STORY

Carlos Frias, Palm Beach Post; Tom Archdeacon, Dayton (Ohio) Daily News; Geoff Baker, Seattle Times; Martin Renzhofer, Salt Lake Tribune; Mike Baldwin, The Oklahoman; Gene Frenette, Florida Times-Union; Brian Murphy, St. Paul Pioneer Press; Peter St. Onge, Charlotte Observer; Kevin Gorman, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review; Scott Carter, Tampa Tribune.

GAME STORY

Dom Amore, Hartford Courant; David Caraviello, Charleston Post and Courier; Charles Elmore, Palm Beach Post; Ron Green Jr., Charlotte Observer; Hal Habib, Palm Beach Post; Larry LaRue, Tacoma News Tribune; Sam Weinman, Westchester Journal News; Jason Williams, St. Paul Pioneer Press; Bill Witz, Los Angeles Daily News; Bob Wojnowski, Detroit News.

EXPLANATORY STORY

Kent Babb, The State (Columbia, S.C.); Greg Bishop, Seattle Times; Kevin Kelly, Cincinnati Enquirer; Paul Kuharsky, Nashville Tennessean; Todd Milles and Mindi Rice, Tacoma (Wash.) News Tribune; David Poole, Charlotte Observer; Anwar Richardson, Tampa Tribune; Gary Smits, Florida Times-Union; Jon Solomon, Birmingham (Ala.) News; Alicia Wincze, Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader.

PROJECT REPORTING

Jon Solomon, Ray Melick, Doug Segrest and Stan Diel, Birmingham News; Patrick Finley, Arizona Daily Star; Charles Chandler, Charlotte Observer; Joe Person, Craig McHugh, Ron Morris and Bob Spear, The State (Columbia, S.C.); Steve Master, Michael Lewis, John Bozzo, Jim Haug, Sean Kernan and Ray Weiss, Daytona Beach News Journal; Jeff Roberts, Hackensack Record; Carlos Frias and Mark Harnett, Palm Beach Post; Lya Wodraska and Phil Miller, Salt Lake Tribune; John Whisler, San Antonio Express-News; Greg Bishop, Seattle Times.

 

40,000-100,000

BREAKING NEWS

Scott Bair, North County (Calif.) Times; Mark Berman, Roanoke (Va.) Times; Steve Caraway, The Morning News of Northwest Arkansas; Glenn Kasses and Jim Meehan, Spokane Spokesman-Review; Adam Kimelman and Andrew Kitchenman, Trenton (N.J.) Times; Jeff Martin, Wichita (Kan.) Eagle; Dave Reardon, Honolulu Star-Bulletin; David Teel, Newport News (Va.) Daily Press; Greg Tufaro, Home News Tribune (East Brunswick, N.J.); Tim Wilkin, Albany (N.Y.) Times-Union.

COLUMNS

Scott Bordow, East Valley (Ariz.) Tribune; Milo Bryant, Colorado Springs Gazette; Jim Carty, Ann Arbor (Mich.) News; Ed Hardin, Greensboro (N.C.) News & Record; Troy Johnson, Columbus (Ga.) Ledger-Enquirer; Peter Kerasotis, Florida Today; John Klima, Torrance (Calif.) Daily Breeze; Loren Nelson, North County (Calif.) Times; Kalani Simpson, Honolulu Star-Bulletin; Steve Solloway, Portland (Maine) Press Herald.

FEATURE STORY

Robert Bell, Greensboro (N.C.) News & Record; Alan Blondin, Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Sun News; Sean Patrick Bowley, Connecticut Post; Michael P. Geffner, Middletown (N.Y.) Times-Record; Mike Graff, Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer; John Heuser, Ann Arbor (Mich.) News; Adam Himmelsbach, Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, Va.); Ed Kracz, Doylestown (Pa.) Intelligencer; John Pruett, Huntsville (Ala.) Times; Mike Sielski, Bucks County (Pa.) Courier Times.

GAME STORY

Eric Branch, Santa Rosa (Calif.) Press Democrat; Steve DeShazo, Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, Va.); Brian Hiro, North County (Calif.) Times; Jeff Fletcher, Santa Rosa (Calif.) Press Democrat; Jeff Martin, Wichita (Kan.) Eagle; Jenn Menendez, Portland (Maine) Press Herald; Scott Michaux, Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle; Seth Soffian, Fort Myers (Fla.) News-Press; Scott Paske, Wichita (Kan.) Eagle; Scott Walsh, Scranton (Pa.) Times.

EXPLANATORY

Meri-Jo Borzilleri, Colorado Springs Gazette; Kevin Brockway, Gainesville (Fla.) Sun; Brian Hendrickson, Vancouver Columbian; Brian Hiro, North County (Calif.) Times; Perryn Keys, Beaumont (Texas) Enterprise; Rachel Lenzi, Portland (Maine) Press Herald; Mark McCarter, Huntsville (Ala.) Times; Rhiannon Potkey, Ventura County (Calif.) Star; Josh Weir, Canton (Ohio) Repository; Ben Wideman, Appleton (Wis.) Post-Crescent.

PROJECT REPORTING

Alex Abrams, The Morning News of Northwest Arkansas; Donnie Collins, Mark Coons and Joby Fawcett, Scranton (Pa.) Times; Dave Fairbank and Darryl Slater, Newport News (Va.) Daily Press; Mike Herndon, Mobile (Ala.) Register; Sean Horgan, Myrtle Beach Sun News; Todd Jacobson, Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, Va.); Kelly Jones, Modesto (Calif.) Bee; Mike Klitzing, Jay Paris and Mike Sullivan, North County (Calif.) Times; Mike Lowe, Portland (Maine) Press Herald; Stu Whitney, Sioux Falls (S.D.) Argus Leader.

 

WRITING

UNDER-40,000

BREAKING NEWS

David Borges, Taunton (Mass.) Daily Gazette; Kathlyn Clore, The Island Packet (Hilton Head, S.C.); Pat Harty, Iowa City Press-Citizen; Tom Keegan, Journal-World (Kan.); Don Lehman and Maury Thompson, The Post-Star (Glens Falls, N.Y.); Jay Morrison, Journal News (Hamilton, Ohio); Jim Sheahan, Poughkeepsie (N.Y.) Journal; Court Wills, News Virginian (Waynesboro, Va.); Ryan Wood, Journal-World (Kan.); Dave Zetlin, Daily Local News (West Chester, Pa.).

COLUMNS

Kellis Robinett, Idaho State Journal; Rial Cummings, Missoulian (Mont.); Jason Lloyd, The Morning Journal (Lorain, Ohio); Gary McCann, The Herald (Rock Hill, S.C.); Todd Finkelmeyer, The Capital Times (Madison, Wis.); Mark Edwards, The Decatur (Ala.) Daily; Kevin Kaduk, Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, Ill.); Greg Dewalt, Times Daily (Florence, Ala.); Pat Harty, Iowa City Press-Citizen; Patrick Ridgell, Daily Times-Call (Longmont, Colo.).

FEATURE STORY Chuck Cox, Denton (Texas) Record-Chronicle; Aaron Dorksen, The Daily Record (Wooster, Ohio); Jeremy Fowler, The Albuquerque Tribune; Jonathan Kay, Anderson (S.C.) Independent-Mail; Paul LaTour, The Naperville (Ill.) Sun; Jason Lloyd, The Morning Journal (Lorain, Ohio); Phil Parker, The Albuquerque Tribune; Kyle Ringo, Daily Camera, Boulder, Colo.; Kellis Robinett, Idaho State Journal; Matt Stanmyre, Potomac (Va.) News.

GAME STORY

David D’Onofrio, Concord (N.H.) Monitor; Andy Hamilton, Iowa City Press-Citizen; Marc Lancaster, The Cincinnati Post; Matt Postins, The Charlotte (Fla.) Sun; Brad Engel, Naperville (Ill.) Sun; Chris Lang, Lynchburg (Va.) News & Advance; Kyle Veazey, Decatur (Ala.) Daily; Jay Morrison, Hamilton (Ohio) Journal News; Patrick Ridgell, Longmont (Colo.) Daily Times-Call; David Utnik, Potomac (Va.) News.

EXPLANATORY

John Bohnenkamp, The Hawk Eye (Burlington, Iowa); Donovan Burba, Concord (N.H.) Monitor; Michael Caccamise, Sheryl Korman and John Moredich, Tucson Citizen; Keith Farner, Anderson (S.C.) Independent-Mail; Chris Carlson, The Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield, Mass.); Brad Engel, Naperville (Ill.) Sun; Jeremy Fowler, The Albuquerque Tribune; Jeff Kidd, The Island Packet, (Hilton Head, S.C.); Adam Mertz, Todd D. Milewski and Dennis Semrau, Madison (Wis.) Capital Times; Adam Zagoria, Herald News (West Paterson, N.J.).

PROJECT REPORTING

Dave Albee, Carla Bova, John Dugan, Rick Polito, James Raia, Dave Allen, Marin (Calif.) Independent Journal; Bob Heist, Jackson Sun; Nathan Joyce, Eric Williams and Chuck Sharp, Kitsap (Wash.) Sun; Konrad Marshall, Post-Star (Glens Falls, N.Y.); Sheila G. Miller, Herald News, (West Paterson, N.J.); Dave D’Onofrio, Concord (N.H.) Monitor; Michael Petre, Tommy Keeler Jr., Ryan Sonner, Matt Stamyre, Northern Virginia Daily (Strasburg, Va.); Kellis Robinett, Idaho State Journal; Rob Schultz, Madison (Wis.) Capital Times; Jeff Welsch, Bozeman (Mont.) Daily Chronicle.

 

UNDER-40,000

DAILY SECTIONS

The Island Packet (Hilton Head, S.C.), Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News, Bloomsburg (Pa.) Press Enterprise; Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, Ill.), Athens (Ga.) Banner-Herald, Tucson (Ariz.) Citizen, Monterey (Calif.) County Herald, Kitsap (Wash.) Sun, Bloomington (Ind.) Herald, Jackson (Tenn.) Sun.

Honorable Mention

San Luis Obispo (Calif.) Tribune, Altoona (Pa.) Mirror, Boulder (Colo.) Daily Camera, Bozeman (Mont.) Daily Chronicle, Lawrence (Kan.) Journal World, Rock Hill (S.C.) Herald, Herald News (West Paterson, N.J.), The Standard-Times (New Bedford, Mass.), Provo (Utah) Daily Herald, Nashua (N.H.) Telegraph.

SUNDAY SECTIONS

Bellingham (Wash.) Herald, Bozeman (Mont.) Daily Chronicle, Casper (Wyo.) Star Tribune, Glens Falls (N.Y.) Post-Star, Greeley (Colo.) Tribune, Lacrosse (Wis.) Tribune, Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World, Monroe (La.) News-Star, Muncie (Ind.) Star Press, Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, Ill.).

Honorable Mention

Athens (Ga.) Banner-Herald, Burlington (Va.) County Times, Columbia Missourian, Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald, Jackson (Tenn.) Sun, Lynchburg (Va.) News and Advance, Marin (Calif.) Independent Journal, Naperville (Ill.) Sun, Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News, Wyoming Tribune Eagle.

SPECIAL SECTIONS

Altoona Mirror (Altoona, Pa.), Athens (Ga.) Banner-Herald, The Bellingham (Wash.) Herald, Daily Herald (Provo, Utah), The Daily Record (Wooster, Ohio), Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, Ill.), Redding (Calif.) Record Searchlight, San Angelo (Texas) Standard-Times, Sante Fe New Mexican, Yakima (Wash.) Herald-Republic.

Honorable Mention

Charlotte (Fla.) Sun, The Brownsville (Texas) Herald, The Island Packet (Hilton Head, S.C.), La Crosse (Wis.) Tribune, Longmont (Colo.) Daily Times-Call, The Middletown Journal (Middletown, Ohio), Monterey (Calif.) County Herald, The Post-Star (Glens Falls, N.Y.), Tucson (Ariz.) Citizen, The Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News.

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40,000 to 100,000

DAILY SECTIONS

Ann Arbor (Mich.) News, Canton (Ohio) Repository, Colorado Springs Gazette, East Valley (Ariz.) Tribune, Everett (Wash.) Herald, Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer, Gainesville (Fla.) Sun, Lincoln (Neb.) Journal-Star, Roanoke (Va.) Times, Times of Northwest Indiana.

Honorable Mention

Appleton (Wis.) Post-Crescent, Bucks County (Pa.) Courier-Times, Florida Today, Fort Myers (Fla.) News-Press, Greensboro (N.C.) News & Record, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Idaho Statesman, Newport News (Va.) Daily Press, North County (Calif.) Times, Spartanburg (S.C.) Herald-Journal.

SUNDAY SECTIONS

East Valley (Ariz.) Tribune, Eugene (Ore.) Register-Guard, Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer, Idaho Statesman, New Haven (Conn.) Register, Newport News (Va.) Daily Press, Roanoke (Va.) Times, Santa Rosa (Calif.) Press Democrat, Wichita (Kan.) Eagle, Wisconsin State Journal.

Honorable Mention

Appleton (Wis.) Post-Crescent, Canton (Ohio) Repository, Colorado Springs Gazette, Daily Southtown (Tinley Park, Ill.), Everett (Wash.) Daily Herald, Huntsville (Ala.) Times, Lincoln (Neb.) Journal Star, Mobile (Ala.) Press Register, North Andover (Mass.) Eagle Tribune, Stockton (Calif.) Record.

SPECIAL SECTIONS

Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle, Beaver County (Pa.) Times, Champaign (Ill.) News-Gazette, Columbus (Ga.) Enquirer, Fort Myers (Fla.) News-Press, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Huntsville (Ala.) Times, Lincoln (Neb.) Journal-Star, Mobile (Ala.) Press-Register, The Morning News of Northwest Arkansas.

Honorable Mention

Bradenton (Fla.) Herald, Canton (Ohio) Repository, Everett (Wash.) Herald, Gainesville (Fla.) Sun, Idaho Statesman, Naples (Fla.) Daily News, Palm Springs (Calif.) Desert Sun, Stockton (Calif.) Record, Wichita (Kan.) Eagle, Willoughby (Ohio) News-Herald.

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