Congratulations to our 2011 Lisagor WINNERS!
CHICAGO The Chicago Headline Club, the largest Society of Professional Journalists chapter in the country, today announced the winners of its 2011 Lisagor Awards at its annual awards dinner before nearly 350 people at the Union League Club of Chicago on Friday, May 4, 2012.
Headlining the awards ceremony honoring the best in Chicago journalism were the Lifetime Achievement Awards given to NBC 5 political reporter Mary Ann Ahern and Chicago Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell. Chicago Tribune reporter Colleen Mastony received the first annual Anne Keegan Award for Reporting on the Little Guy. One of the featured stories in her submission was a heart-warming profile of Oak Park River Forest High School head wrestling coach Mike Powell who despite a debilitating muscle disease continues to coach and inspire his athletes both on the mat and in life. Dinner guests watched a video honoring Keegan and her work:
And the 2011 Watchdog Award for Excellence in Public Interest Reporting went to David Jackson and Gary Marx of the Chicago Tribune, for their “Fugitives From Justice” series. Their series exposed flaws in the U.S. justice system that helped fugitives cross America’s borders and avoid capture. This standout series helped bring some of the fugitives to justice.
Members also helped elect the Chicago Headline Club’s new officers and board members. They include:
7 Executive Board Members
Alden Loury, President
Fernando Diaz, President-elect, VP-FOI
Rummana Hussain, VP-Membership
Odette Yousef, VP-Programs
Flynn McRoberts, Treasurer
Susan Stevens, Secretary
Steve Franklin, immediate past president, ex officio
8 Board Members serving through June 2013 —
Kristen Schorsch, Healthcare reporter, Crain’s Chicago Business
Suzanne McBride, Associate chair, journalism dept., Columbia College
Beth Konrad, Professor, School of Communication, Loyola University Chicago
Robert Elder, managing editor, DNAinfo.com
Anna Tarkov, freelancer and media consultant
Amy Lee, freelance journalist
Lolly Bowean, Reporter, Chicago Tribune
Felicia Middlebrooks, Morning anchor, WBBM Newsradio
8 Board Members serving through June 2014 —
Randi Belisomo, reporter, WGN-TV
Abdon Pallasch, Political reporter, Chicago Sun-Times
Jon Seidel, Staff writer, Sun-Times Media
Howard Dubin, Chairman/treasurer, Manufacturers’ News Inc.
Dann Gire, Film critic, Daily Herald
Tracy Schmidt, Training & Strategy Director, Crain’s Social Media Group at Crain Communications
Hugh Dellios, The Associated Press
Angela Caputo, The Chicago Reporter
The winners in the Lisagor categories were:
MULTIMEDIA COLLABORATION
Robert Herguth and Patrick Rehkamp, Better Government Association, Dane Placko, FOX Chicago News, Mark Suppelsa, WGN-TV, Marsha Bartel, WGN-TV, ” Credit Card Crackdown”
EDITORIAL CARTOON
Roger Schillerstrom, Crain’s Chicago Business “Reelect Obama; O’Hare expansion plans; Illinois Pension Fund deficit; Chicago; Blago testifies; Illinois Secretary of State Department pay raises”
FEATURE WRITING
Non-daily, circulation more than 20,000
Bryan Smith, Chicago Magazine, “The Longest Wait”
Non-daily, circulation less than 20,000
Amanda Robert, Chicago Lawyer, “Legal implications exist for food trucks to find success”
Online
Staff, The Red Line Project, “10 Remember 9/11”
Television
Gia M. Amella, Allison Flexner, Giuseppe Mangione, Bill Wunner, Sheri England, Tony Whaley, Modio Media, “Terror in Tuscany: World War II Atrocities”
Radio
Rob Wildeboer and Cate Cahan, WBEZ, “Whatever happened to Marcus?”
Daily newspaper, circulation 250,000 or more
Colleen Mastony, Chicago Tribune, “A Family Vision”
Daily newspaper, circulation 250,000 or less
Catherine Ann Velasco, The Herald-News, “An Incredible Bond”
Specialty/Trade
Howard Larkin, Hospitals & Health Networks Magazine, “Smart Money Management”
FEATURE PHOTOGRAPHY, DAILY
Daily newspaper, circulation more than 250,000
Charles Rex Arbogast, Associated Press, “Millennium Fog”
Daily newspaper, circulation less than 250,000
Jonathan Miano, The Times, “Air Show”
PHOTOGRAPHY, NON-DAILY
Non-daily publication, circulation more than 20,000
Kerrie Kennedy, David Leslie Anthony, Melissa Miller, Jake Jarvi, Sheridan Road Magazine, “A Nutcracker Fantasy”
Non-daily publication, circulation less than 20,000
Joe Gallo and Jason Reblando, The Chicago Reporter, “Secure Communities”
NEWS PHOTOGRAPHY, DAILY
Daily newspaper, circulation more than 250,000
Kiichiro Sato, Paul Beaty, Charles Rex Arbogast and M. Spencer Green, Associated Press, “A Blizzard Slams The Windy City”
Daily newspaper, circulation less than 250,000
Jonathan Miano, The Times, “Military couples: Strength through separation”
DEADLINE REPORTING
Daily newspaper, circulation more than 250,000
Michael Tarm, Karen Hawkins, Don Babwin, Associated Press, “Blagojevich Testimony (series of 3): Blagojevich takes the stand at corruption trial, launches campaign to win over jury with charm”
Daily newspaper, circulation less than 250,000
Staff , Daily Herald, “Walloped”
Non-daily publication
Bethany Krajelis, Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, “BlackBerry outage affects lawyers and law firms”
NON-DEADLINE REPORTING
Sharon Cohen, Associated Press, “Immigration Limbo”
Daily newspaper, circulation less than 250,000
Casey Toner and Lauren FitzPatrick, SouthtownStar, “Country Club Hills’ woes”
BREAKING NEWS
Online
Carlos Sadovi, David Elsner, Jeremy Gorner , Daniel Haar, Andrew Zuick and Liam Ford, Chicago Tribune, “The Beating of Brian DeLeon”
Television
Joe Kolina, Rob Stafford, Jennifer Lay-Riske, Allison Rosati, Carol Marin, Mary Ann Ahern, Natalie Martinez, Stefan Holt, Alex Perez, Phil Rogers, Don Moseley and 10 p.m. News Team WMAQ-TV, “Blagojevich Verdict”
Radio
Steve Grzanich, Bob Roberts, Bernie Tafoya , Steve Miller, WBBM Staff, WBBM Newsradio, “Blizzard!”
NEWSCAST
Radio
Steve Grzanich, Keith Johnson, Duane Gray, Joe Collins, Susan Glick and Jeff Joniak, WBBM Newsradio, ” 4 p.m. newscasts, Feb. 1, June 27 and July 12, 2011″
Television
Late Newscast
Joe Kolina, Jennifer Lay-Riske, and 10 p.m. News Team, WMAQ-TV, “Blizzard 2011, Blagojevich Verdict, Off-Duty Officer Killed”
NEWS WEB SITE
Chicago Tribune Staff, chicagotribune.com
GENERAL EXCELLENCE, NON-ENGLISH
Daily newspaper
N/A
Non-daily publication, under 20,000
Clemente Nicado, Ron Reason, Carolina Garcia, Kelly Yelmene, Alejandro Yanun, Elvira Collins, Brian Morowczysnki, Negocios Now
Television
Noticiero Telemundo Chicago
NEIGBORHOOD/COMMUNITY NEWS, ONLINE
Staff, TribLocal.com
DESIGN
Daily newspaper, circulation more than 250,000
James Smith, Chicago Sun-Times, “James Smith entry No. 2: 3 examples of page design by James Smith”
Daily newspaper, circulation less than 250,000
Scott Helmchen, Northwest Herald, “Pests dé resistance, Hero worship, Hallows goodbye, Dawn breaks”
Non-daily publication, circulation more than 20,000
Stephanie Gladney, Time Out Chicago, “UPTOWN STORY; Changing of the GUARD; YOUR PERFECT PRIDE”
Non-daily publication, circulation less than 20,000
Christine Wachter, The Chicago Reporter, “Loopholes, Empty Jackpot and The Allure of Secure”
GRAPHICS
Daily newspaper, circulation more than 250,000
Greg Good, Chicago Sun-Times
Daily newspaper, circulation less than 250,000
Dave Lemery, Northwest Herald, “Bailed-out Banks; Steps of foreclosure; The War in Iraq”
Non-daily publication, circulation more than 20,000
Karen Freese, Crain’s Chicago Business, “The State of Small Business: It’s a small business world”
Non-daily publication, circulation less than 20,000
Christine Wachter, The Chicago Reporter, “Double whammy, On their way out, Securing the country from immigrants”
ILLUSTRATION
Daily newspaper, circulation more than 250,000
Rick Tuma, Chicago Tribune, “Chicago Tribune Monday Business Profile”
Daily newspaper, circulation less than 250,000
Staff, Hoy, “¿Quién será?; Ficción y realidad; A donde vamos; Todos Ponen”
Non-daily publication, circulation more than 20,000
Red Nose Studio and Tanja Pohl, Angie’s List Magazine, “Angie’s List Magazine cover illustrations”
EDUCATION REPORTING
Daily newspaper, circulation more than 250,000
Diane Rado and Duaa Eldeib, Chicago Tribune, “School bosses’ windfall”
Daily newspaper, circulation less than 250,000
Kerry Lester, Daily Herald, “Impulse – What drove Angel Facio to stab his teacher, and series”
SCIENCE, HEALTH, TECHNOLOGY, ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTING
Radio
Dan Weissmann and LaCreshia Birts, WBEZ, “A neuro-economist explains the latte dilemma: Are you really gonna pay $4 for coffee?”
Television
Ash-har Quraishi, Mike Prendergast, Basma Babar-Quraishi, Linda Fox and Tom Siegel, Chicago Tonight – WTTW, “Great Lakes Invasion”
Daily newspaper, circulation more than 250,000
Michael Hawthorne, Chicago Tribune, “Chicago Environment Exclusives”
Daily newspaper, circulation less than 250,000
Bowdeya Tweh, The Times, “Wellspring of opportunity? Environmental concerns fueling struggle over use of oil sands from Canada/ Impact stretches beyond refinery gates/Drawing a line over refining oil sands”
MULTIMEDIA FEATURE PRESENTATION
Online
David Yanofsky, Cam Simpson and Flynn McRoberts, Bloomberg News, “Victoria’s Secret Revealed in Child Picking Organic Cotton”
USE OF VIDEO
Online
Lance Booth, Northwest Herald, “Beyond the Game”
USE OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY
Online
Alex Bordens, Brian Boyer and Joe Germuska, Chicago Tribune, “2011 Illinois school report cards”
SPORTS STORY
Radio
Jeff Joniak, WBBM-AM, “Joniak’s Journal: Amobi Okoye”
Daily newspaper, circulation more than 250,000
Mark Konkol, Chicago Sun-Times, “Worst. Season. Ever.”
Daily newspaper, circulation less than 250,000
Jim Owczarski, Beacon News, “Court Redemption”
Non-daily publication, circulation more than 20,000
Steve Oney, Playboy, “The Fighter”
SPORTS COMMENTARY
Daily newspaper, circulation more than 250,000
Rick Telander, Chicago Sun-Times, “Murray Park: Can Heaven Still Be Found on a Playground?”
Daily newspaper, circulation less than 250,000
Barry Rozner, Daily Herald, “Barry Rozner Columns”
SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY
Daily newspaper, circulation more than 250,000
Tom Cruze, Chicago Sun-Times, “Harness Racing”
Daily newspaper, circulation less than 250,000
John Starks, Daily Herald, “Reflective wrestling”
BUSINESS REPORTING
Daily newspaper, circulation more than 250,000
Jared S. Hopkins, Chicago Tribune, “Wrigley Rooftops Health Inspections”
Daily newspaper, circulation less than 250,000
Keith Benman, The Times, “Utility, regulator planned to ‘party’/NiSource exec may get axed/ NiSource Inc. director to retire after perks offer”
Television
Leah Hope, Richard Hillengas, Jim Mastri, Casey Klaus, Annie Esp and Jeff Freeman,
WLS-TV, “Special Segments: Leah Hope”
Non-daily publication, circulation more than 20,000
Bryan Gruley and Cliff Edwards, Bloomberg News, “Sony With Stringer Era Waning Searches for Hit as Payoff Year Eludes Grasp”
Non-daily publication, circulation less than 20,000
Angela Caputo, Kimbriell Kelly, Jeff Kelly Lowenstein and Louis McGill, The Chicago Reporter, “Loopholes”
Specialty/Trade
Megan Cottrell, Rui Kaneya, Samuel Charles, Dylan Cinti, Caitlin Huston and Alexis Pope, The Chicago Reporter, “Fishing for business”
Radio
Tony Arnold and Cate Cahan, WBEZ, “United Airline’s move downtown leaves suburban land behind”
Online
Katie Karpowicz, James Mazurek, Alaina Africano and Sarah Vonnegut-Gabovitch, The Red Line Project, “Business Ties: The State of Business Along Chicago’s Red Line”
ARTS REPORTING AND CRITICISM
Non-daily publication, circulation more than 20,000
Jonathan Lethem, Playboy, “Kovacs’s Gift”
Non-daily publication, circulation less than 20,000
Aaron Wertheimer, Chicago Jewish Star, “Henry Miller & The Jews”
Daily newspaper, circulation more than 250,000
Miriam DiNunzio, Chicago Sun-Times, “Standards, by Singers Who Aren’t”
Daily newspaper, circulation less than 250,000
Matt Arado, Daily Herald, “Lollapalooza”
INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING
Online
David Jackson, Brian Boyer, Gary Marx, Emily Chow, Abel Uribe and Steve Rosenberg, Chicago Tribune, “Across the Border/Beyond the Law”
Daily newspaper, circulation more than 250,000
Jason Grotto, Ray Long, Jodi S. Cohen and Joe Germuska, Chicago Tribune, Marsha Bartel and Mark Suppelsa, WGN-TV, “Pension Games”
Daily newspaper, circulation less than 250,000
Marisa Kwiatkowski, The Times, “Casting concern/Senator: Make schools off-limits”
Radio
Rob Wildeboer and Cate Cahan, WBEZ, “What a police camera did NOT record”
Television
Mark Suppelsa, Marsha Bartel, Jason Grotto, Ray Long and Jodi S. Cohen, WGN-TV, “Pension Games”
IN-DEPTH REPORTING, NON-DAILY PUBLICATION
General-interest publication, circulation more than 20,000
Ben Joravsky and Mick Dumke, Chicago Reader, “The grass gap; What is pot prosecution good for?; The $78 million bag; The Politics of Pot”
General-interest publication, circulation less than 20,000
Angela Caputo, Kimbriell Kelly, Dylan Cinti and Alexis Pope, The Chicago Reporter, “Out at first”
Community newspaper, circulation less than 20,000
Staff, Windy City Times, “AIDS @ 30”
Business magazine or newspaper, circulation more than 20,000
William Henderson and Rachel Zahorsky, ABA Journal, “Paradigm Shift”
Magazine or magazine section, circulation more than 20,000
Bryan Smith, Chicago Magazine, “Loss of Innocence”
Magazine or magazine section, circulation less than 20,000
Angela Caputo, Kimbriell Kelly, Phil Jacobson, Samantha Winslow, The Chicago Reporter, “Without a smoking gun”
POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENT REPORTING
Daily newspaper, circulation more than 250,000
Steve Warmbir, Chicago Sun-Times, “Corruption in Cicero”
Daily newspaper, circulation less than 250,000
Casey Toner and Lauren FitzPatrick, SouthtownStar, “Country Club Hills’ woes”
IN-DEPTH NEWS STORY OR SERIES
Radio
Rob Wildeboer and Cate Cahan, WBEZ, “Under the Gun: Murder in Chicago and Toronto”
Television
Randi Belisomo and Adam DeBacker, WGN-TV, “Journey to Haiti (three-part series)”
Specialty/Trade
Sarah Karp, Catalyst Chicago, “The Right Move?”
PUBLIC AFFAIRS PROGRAMMING
Radio
WBEZ Staff, “Cops and Neighbors”
Television
Tasha Ransom, Kimbriell Kelly, Nancy Langfels, Jay Sondheimer, Suzanne Dumetz-Cole and Russ Sherman, WPWR-TV and The Chicago Reporter “Living with ADHD”
BEST REPORTER, BROADCAST
Radio
Bernie Tafoya, WBBM Newsradio
Television
Paris Schutz, WTTW
NEWS COLUMN OR COMMENTARY
Specialty/Trade
Neil McLaughlin, Modern Healthcare
Non-daily publication, circulation more than 20,000
Greg Hinz, Crain’s Chicago Business, “Pension Math; The center gives; To win in Springfield, CME should fix pitch”
Non-daily publication, circulation less than 20,000
Irv Leavitt, PioneerLocal, “1) Oh, the humanity !, 2) From Black Friday to Greed Thursday, 3) Haggis and rugby ? Scrum-tious”
Daily newspaper, circulation more than 250,000
Mark Brown, Chicago Sun-Times
Daily newspaper, circulation less than 250,000
Phil Kadner, SouthtownStar, “Phil Kadner’s columns”
EDITORIAL WRITING
Daily newspaper, circulation more than 250,000
John McCormick, Chicago Tribune
Daily newspaper, circulation less than 250,000
David Rutter, SouthtownStar, “SouthtownStar Editorials”
Non-daily publication, circulation more than 20,000
Joe Cahill, Crain’s Chicago Business, “Stop playing favorites with tax money; Moto sale shows folly of special tax breaks; Formula for failure: all self-interest, no sacrifice”
Non-daily publication, circulation less than 20,000
Jerry Moore, The Berwyn Life, “Know-nothings costing more than they should; Pesek must resign from D-201 board; Legislative scholarship program must end now”
BLOG
Independent
Melanie Coffee, She’s Write, “Being Brown in the Suburbs, No Burnt Crosses, but a Few Cross Looks
Affiliated
David Protess, Huffington Post, “1. Guilty Until Proven Innocent 2. The Murder of Innocence 3. A Prosecutor’s True Calling”
START-UP
Staff, The Red Line Project
The Chicago Headline Club also announced the recipient of the $2,500 Les H. Brownlee Scholarship to a Chicago-area journalism student Daniel Smrokowski of Roosevelt University and two $2,500 scholarships for journalism students who will have unpaid summer internships in the Chicago area Abigail Kleckler of Loyola University and Julie Kliegman of Northwestern University.