6 Times Staffers Win S.D. Journalism Awards

The Los Angeles Times won six top awards in the 1985 San Diego Society of Professional Journalists, Sigma Delta Chi annual competition.

Times reporter Janny Scott won the top award for community service with her stories about the Phoenix Research Corp., the company that manufactured toxic arsine and phosphine gas in La Mesa. The Union Carbide subsidiary operated unnoticed until a worker called city officials after the disastrous toxic-chemical leak in Bhopal, India, in December, 1984. After the disclosure by The Times, the company promised to move its plant out of La Mesa.

Photographer Don Bartletti won a first prize for his photo essay on the Live-Aid concert in Philadelphia. Dave Gatley also won the top prize for news photography for his pictures of a kidnaping hoax.

Marcia Mangum, The Times’ weekend news editor, won first place for news page makeup. Copy editors Robert Bayer and Gregory Beckmann tied for first in the feature headline category.

Artist Steve Lopez won first place for newspaper illustration.

The San Diego Union won five awards for newspapers with circulations of more than 100,000, and the Tribune captured four top prizes.

Those awards were:

Investigative-enterprise reporting: Claude Walbert and Betsy Bates, the Tribune; news headline: Jeff Cade, the Tribune; feature page makeup: Antonia Allegra and Kris Lindblad, the Tribune; sports reporting: Ed Zieralski, the Tribune; editorial writing: Peter Kaye, San Diego Union; feature writing: Janet Sutter, San Diego Union; best column: Suzanne Choney, San Diego Union; financial writing: Susan Burkhardt, San Diego Union; Woody Lockwood Humor Award: Michael Grant, San Diego Union.

The Sigma Delta Chi chapter also gave out awards for publications with circulation under 100,000, as well as for television and radio reporting.

For newspapers, those awards were:

James L. Julian Award for Community Service: Dean Nelson and Michael Krey, San Diego Daily Transcript; investigative-enterprise reporting: Paul Gates and Pauline Repard, Daily Transcript; spot news: Cathy Spearnak, Escondido Times-Advocate; feature writing: Frank Mickadeit, Times-Advocate; editorial writing: Jim Bauman, Coast Dispatch; best column: Irv Erdos, Times-Advocate; criticism: Ken Leighton, Times-Advocate; financial writing: Terry Rodgers, San Diego Magazine.

Feature and sports photography: Robert Fauthier, Times-Advocate; photo essay, Donna Cosentino, Times-Advocate; news photo: Manuel Ceniceros, Times-Advocate; illustration: Thomas Szalay, Morning Press; editorial cartoon: Joe Schmidt, Star News.

Page makeup: Paul Danison, Escondido Times-Advocate; feature page makeup: Dennis Lhota, Coast Dispatch; news headline: Jim Alvord, Star News; feature headline: Arlene Eagen-Holmes, Star News.

For television, the top winners were:

News photography: Ron Baylor, KCST (Channel 39); spot news: KGTV (Channel 10) staff; feature story: Ron Baylor, Tim Chelling and Jody Hammond, KCST; best regular segment: Bree Walker and J. W. August, KGTV; community service: Paul Blume, KCST; investigative: Ted Bracos and Paul Sands, KGTV.

In radio, Carl Albert and crew of KFMB won for spot news and KSDO won in the investigative category.