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The Temple Daily Telegram was named a Texas “Newsroom of the Year” Sunday as the newspaper was honored with a total of 11 statewide journalism awards, including a first-place prize for its comprehensive 2021 winter storm coverage. The Telegram received honorable mention for the top award in the Class 2A division for Texas newspapers with a Sunday circulation of between 10,000 and 29,999. The awards, which honor excellence in journalism in 2021, were presented by the Texas Association of Managing Editors at the organization’s convention in Irving this past weekend. A first-place honor was awarded to the Telegram for its community coverage of Winter Storm Uri under extreme icy weather conditions that incapacitated most of the state in 2021. The Telegram team of reporters Jacob Sanchez, Joel Valley, Shane Monaco, Larry Causey, City Editor Eric E. Garcia and Assistant Managing Editor Jerry Prickett won first place in the Team Effort category for their efforts. Telegram staffers overcame many challenges — including widespread power outages and icy conditions across the region — to produce distinctive journalism for the community. “Top-notch work,” a judge in the 2022 journalism awards competition said of the Telegram’s articles. “Despite the many obstacles, the reporters provided readers with vital information and stories that reflected the pulse of the communities.” “Each piece was also well written,” the judge wrote. “A paper of any size would be proud of this coverage.” Telegram reporters, editors and designers also won other awards. Sanchez, a former Telegram reporter who now writes for the Fort Worth Report, was awarded first place in Deadline Writing, a category he previously won. He wrote about the Temple Police Department’s efforts to provide free laundry services for residents after the 2021 winter storm. Sanchez’s article, with a headline of “Folding it Forward,” was impressive, the judge said. “Absolute killer lead,” the judge wrote. “Perfectly sets the stage for what’s to come, and juxtaposes typically mundane actions with the new, extraordinary reality of surviving a disaster. I don’t need to look at a photo to visualize what the sources’ lives look like. Best of all, unlike other entries in this round, the kicker makes me feel for the subjects and hope they’ll get relief.” “The article has all the flavor I’m looking for in spot-news coverage, and the narrative is impressive.” Sanchez was also awarded second place in the Star Breaking News Report of the Year for his stories on the winter storm. “Solid coverage (including lots of news readers could use) gathered, posted, updated and published overnight under difficult conditions,” the judge wrote. Sports Editor Eric Drennan won second place for his sports feature on Jefferson Fritz, a football player at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. “This is a delightfully written feature that grabs me with the lede,” the judge said. “Appreciate the bullet points. Nice work.” News Editor Richard Douglas won third place in the Designer of the Year category for his newspaper page designs, which included designs from the Life sections. Drennan and Joshua Weaver, assistant sports editor, both received honorable mention awards in the Celeste Williams Star Sportswriter of the Year category. Drennan won for his coverage of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor football team as well as a state track and field competition. Weaver was recognized for his coverage of high school sports, including Temple High School football and women’s basketball articles. In the competitive Specialty Reporting category, Monaco received honorable mention for his series of stories on supply chain issues that included a look at delays in opening a pedestrian bridge in Temple. “Well-sourced, well-written in-depth reporting!” the judge wrote about Monaco’s work. “I especially enjoyed the scene-setting you did with the sidewalk sitting idle.” In the Freedom of Information category, Garcia and Monaco received honorable mention for their Sunshine Week stories. The two wrote about local access to public information that included a look at the Temple ISD Superintendent Bobby Ott’s public evaluations as well as the responsiveness of Bell County government to media requests. Copy editor Randy Ray received honorable mention in the Comment and Criticism category for his review of Cheap Trick’s 20th album “In Another World.” The Killeen Daily Herald, the Telegram’s sister paper, won a total of 18 awards, including a first-place Community Service award for the outlet’s winter storm coverage. The Herald, also in the 2A division, won six second-place awards, including Team Effort, Video, Deadline Writing, Sports Photography, Infographics and Designer of the Year; three third-place awards for General Column, Deadline Writing and Star Opinion Writer of the Year; and eight honorable mentions for Freedom of Information, Star Photojournalist of the Year, Star Opinion Writer of the Year, Star Investigative Report of the Year and Star Breaking News Report of the Year categories. To see the winners, visit http://tapmecontest.org/winners/.
The Temple Daily Telegram was named a Texas “Newsroom of the Year” Sunday as the newspaper was honored with a total of 11 statewide journalism awards, including a first-place prize for its comprehensive 2021 winter storm coverage.
The Telegram received honorable mention for the top award in the Class 2A division for Texas newspapers with a Sunday circulation of between 10,000 and 29,999. The awards, which honor excellence in journalism in 2021, were presented by the Texas Association of Managing Editors at the organization’s convention in Irving this past weekend.
A first-place honor was awarded to the Telegram for its community coverage of Winter Storm Uri under extreme icy weather conditions that incapacitated most of the state in 2021.
The Telegram team of reporters Jacob Sanchez, Joel Valley, Shane Monaco, Larry Causey, City Editor Eric E. Garcia and Assistant Managing Editor Jerry Prickett won first place in the Team Effort category for their efforts. Telegram staffers overcame many challenges — including widespread power outages and icy conditions across the region — to produce distinctive journalism for the community.
“Top-notch work,” a judge in the 2022 journalism awards competition said of the Telegram’s articles. “Despite the many obstacles, the reporters provided readers with vital information and stories that reflected the pulse of the communities.”
“Each piece was also well written,” the judge wrote. “A paper of any size would be proud of this coverage.”
Telegram reporters, editors and designers also won other awards.
Sanchez, a former Telegram reporter who now writes for the Fort Worth Report, was awarded first place in Deadline Writing, a category he previously won. He wrote about the Temple Police Department’s efforts to provide free laundry services for residents after the 2021 winter storm.
Sanchez’s article, with a headline of “Folding it Forward,” was impressive, the judge said.
“Absolute killer lead,” the judge wrote. “Perfectly sets the stage for what’s to come, and juxtaposes typically mundane actions with the new, extraordinary reality of surviving a disaster. I don’t need to look at a photo to visualize what the sources’ lives look like. Best of all, unlike other entries in this round, the kicker makes me feel for the subjects and hope they’ll get relief.”
“The article has all the flavor I’m looking for in spot-news coverage, and the narrative is impressive.”
Sanchez was also awarded second place in the Star Breaking News Report of the Year for his stories on the winter storm.
“Solid coverage (including lots of news readers could use) gathered, posted, updated and published overnight under difficult conditions,” the judge wrote.
Sports Editor Eric Drennan won second place for his sports feature on Jefferson Fritz, a football player at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.
“This is a delightfully written feature that grabs me with the lede,” the judge said. “Appreciate the bullet points. Nice work.”
News Editor Richard Douglas won third place in the Designer of the Year category for his newspaper page designs, which included designs from the Life sections.
Drennan and Joshua Weaver, assistant sports editor, both received honorable mention awards in the Celeste Williams Star Sportswriter of the Year category.
Drennan won for his coverage of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor football team as well as a state track and field competition. Weaver was recognized for his coverage of high school sports, including Temple High School football and women’s basketball articles.
In the competitive Specialty Reporting category, Monaco received honorable mention for his series of stories on supply chain issues that included a look at delays in opening a pedestrian bridge in Temple.
“Well-sourced, well-written in-depth reporting!” the judge wrote about Monaco’s work. “I especially enjoyed the scene-setting you did with the sidewalk sitting idle.”
In the Freedom of Information category, Garcia and Monaco received honorable mention for their Sunshine Week stories. The two wrote about local access to public information that included a look at the Temple ISD Superintendent Bobby Ott’s public evaluations as well as the responsiveness of Bell County government to media requests.
Copy editor Randy Ray received honorable mention in the Comment and Criticism category for his review of Cheap Trick’s 20th album “In Another World.”
The Killeen Daily Herald, the Telegram’s sister paper, won a total of 18 awards, including a first-place Community Service award for the outlet’s winter storm coverage.
The Herald, also in the 2A division, won six second-place awards, including Team Effort, Video, Deadline Writing, Sports Photography, Infographics and Designer of the Year; three third-place awards for General Column, Deadline Writing and Star Opinion Writer of the Year; and eight honorable mentions for Freedom of Information, Star Photojournalist of the Year, Star Opinion Writer of the Year, Star Investigative Report of the Year and Star Breaking News Report of the Year categories.
To see the winners, visit http://tapmecontest.org/winners/.