Times Staffers Win 54 Awards in Press Club Competition

Reporters, editors and photographers from Times Orange County Edition received 54 awards, including 17 first-place honors, Saturday night in the Orange County Press Club’s 35th annual competition.

The Orange County Register took 17 awards, including eight first-place honors.

Other first-place winners were Orange Coast Magazine with three awards and the Huntington Beach Independent, the Metropolitan Journal, the Costa Mesa Independent and the South Orange County News, with one award each.

The awards were presented during a banquet held at the Radisson Plaza Hotel.

Times staff writers James S. Granelli, Eric Bailey and Rose Ellen O’Conner tied for first-place honors in the best news story category for a daily newspaper. Reporter Robert Kinsler of the Costa Mesa Independent took first place for best news story in a weekly newspaper.

Tom Vasich of the Metropolitan Journal won best feature story honors for a weekly publication. The award for best feature story by a daily newspaper has yet to be announced.

Jacquelyn Weir of the Huntington Beach Independent won first place for best editorial. Curt Seeden of the South Orange County News received a first place for best headline portfolio.

Two first-place awards for broadcast journalism went to Dave Lopez of KCBS-TV, while the Press Club’s Sky Dunlap Award went to Ed Arnold of KTLA-TV.

Other first-place writing awards received by The Times went to Bob Schwartz for best government/politics story; Patrick Mott for the best humorous story and best story on law; Eric Lichtblau for best beat coverage; Dianne Klein for best column or commentary; and Marcida Dodson for best story on social issues and for best sports story.

First-place honors for Times photography went to Rod Boren for best news photograph and best feature photograph; David Muronaka for best sports photograph; Aurelio Jose Barrera for best photographic essay; Gail Fisher for best photographic illustration; Mark Boster for best photographic pictorial; and Don Kelsen for best portrait.

Jim Adamek of the Times took first place for best news page layout.

First-place awards received by the Register went to Steve Hawk and James Grimaldi for best series; Steve Hawk for best business story; Gary A. Warner, Larry Peterson, Jean O. Pasco and Robin Goldstein for best package of stories; and Susan Peterson for best story on science and technology.

The Register also received two special writing awards. Dan Weikel and Ed Humes won the investigative reporting category while Jonathan Lansner, Chris Knap and Jeff Weir won the Watchdog Award.

The Register’s Jeff Goertzen won first-place awards for best graphics portfolio and best illustration.

Orange Coast Magazine garnered three first-place awards: Scott Hays for best entertainment story; and Eve Belson and Robert Cetti Jr. tied for best magazine story.

Receiving first-place honors for public relations entries were Cynthia Morris for best news release; Tracy Childs of Nelson Ralston Robb Communications for best feature release; Barbara Cronin for UCI Items for best internal publication; and Linda Granell of the UCI Journal for best external publication.

Runner-Up Awards

For best news story (daily)--Second to Mary Lou Fulton of The Times, honorable mention to James Grimaldi and Andy Horan of the Register and Eric Bailey of The Times.

For best news story (weekly)--Second to Tom Vasich of the Metropolitan Journal.

For best feature story (weekly)--Second to Christopher Trela of the Pacific News & Review, honorable mention to Jacquelyn Weir of the Fountain Valley Independent.

For best beat coverage--Second to Lynn Smith of The Times, honorable mention to Martin J. Smith of the Register.

For best business story--Second to Maureen O’Haren of the Irvine World News, honorable mention to Dianne Klein of The Times.

For best column or commentary--Second to Maria Newman of The Times.

For best editorial--Second to William Lobdell of the Metropolitan Journal.

For best entertainment--Second to Martin J. Smith of the Register.

For best story on law--Second to John Spano of The Times, honorable mention to Larry Welborn of the Register.

For best magazine story--Second to Danny Pollock of the Orange Coast Magazine, honorable mention to Palmer Thomason Jones of the Orange Coast Magazine.

For best government/politics story--Second to Eric Bailey of The Times and Chris Knap of the Register.

For best package of stories--Second to Janet Lee Zimmerman of the Orange Coast Daily Pilot, honorable mention to Herman Wong of The Times.

For best series--Second to Steven R. Churm, Lynn Smith, Jeffrey Perlman, Lanie Jones, Rick Vanderknyff, Jerry Hicks, James Newton, Matt Lait and Helene Elliott of the Times, honorable mention to Jeff Brody and Kim Christensen of the Register.

For best story on science and technology--Second to Martin J. Smith of the Register, honorable mention to Lanie Jones and Jonathan Weber of The Times.

For best story on social issues--Second to Frank Messina of The Times, honorable mention to James Grimaldi of the Register.

For best sports story--Second to James M. Gomez of the Times.

For the Marjorie Freeman Award for the best humorous story--Second to Nancy Wride and John Needham of The Times, honorable mention to Melissa Weiner of the Register.

For best headline portfolio--Second to William Lobdell of the World Trade, honorable mention to Jeff Ballow of the Metropolitan Journal and Chris Meyer of the Saddleback Valley News.

For best news page layout portfolio--Second to Jon Markman of The Times, honorable mention to Tom Clanin of the Orange Coast Daily Pilot.

For best graphics portfolio--Second to David Puckett of The Times.

For best illustration--Second to Leslie Friedson Lawicki of the Orange Coast Magazine, honorable mention to Becky Henderson of the Orange Coast Daily Pilot.

For best news photography--Second to Mark Boster of The Times.

For best feature photograph--Second to David Carlson of the South Orange County News, honorable mention to Lacy Atkins of The Times.

For best sports photograph--Second to Don Tormey of The Times, honorable mention to Gail Fisher of The Times.

For best photographic essay--Second to Gail Fisher of The Times.

For best photographic illustration--Second to Rod Boren of The Times.

For best photographic pictorial--Second to Gail Fisher of The Times, honorable mention to David Muronaka of The Times.

For best portrait--Second to Gail Fisher of The Times, honorable mention to David Muronaka and Kari Rene Hall of The Times.

For best news release--Second to Colleen Bentley-Adler, honorable mention to Randall Black. For best feature release--Second to Orman Day of Saddleback Memorial Medical Center.

For best internal publication--Second to Joyce Bodlovich of Koll Centerlines.

For best external publication--Second to Anette McClusky and Nelson Ralston Robb of Heads Up.

For best TV news report--Second to Vikki Vargas of KNBC, honorable mention to Christopher Heinbaugh.

For best TV feature report--Second to Vikki Vargas of KNBC, honorable mention to Christopher Heinbaugh.