2015 winners
Below are the results for the 65th Annual Green Eyeshade Awards, starting with the Best of Show awards. Our judges select the best from each main category, then select one winner of the Green Eyeshade.
Judges didn’t have to select a winner if they believed the entries didn’t merit it. To correct errors or omissions, please email contest administrator Tim Dodson.
The Green Eyeshade winner
• Arkansas Democrat-Gazette – Cathy Frye, Rick McFarland, Chad Day and Staff, Other side of nowhere
Best of Division: Print Dailies
• Tampa Bay Times – Alexandra Zayas, Kris Hundley, Connie Humburg, Letitia Stein, Insult to Injury
Best of Division: Print Non-Dailies
• New Times Broward Palm Beach – Kyle Swenson, Teens Tied Down and Shot Up With Drugs at Pembroke Pines Facility
Best of Division: Magazines
• Georgia Trend – Susan Percy, Mayor of Georgia, and A Kinder, Gentler Agriculture, and Unbroken Circle
Best of Division: Print Graphics
• Chattanooga Times Free Press – Maura Friedman, Feature Photography for Special Section
Best of Division: Television
• Bay News 9 – Jeff McAdam, High School Football Dangers
Best of Division: Radio
• WABE – Jim Burress, Stuck in the Bluff: AIDS, Heroin and One Group’s Illegal Quest to Save Lives
Best of Division: Online
• Arkansas Democrat-Gazette – Cathy Frye, Rick McFarland, Chad Day and Staff, Other side of nowhere
Business Reporting: All Dailies
1. Miami Herald – Mimi Whitefield, International business portfolio
2. Tampa Bay Times – Jamal Thalji, Tampa Bay business by Jamal Thalji
Third Place
3. Tampa Bay Times –Susan Taylor Martin, Susan Taylor Martin on Real Estate
Consumer Reporting: All Dailies
1. Sarasota Herald-Tribune – Josh Salman, Selling Hope
2. Treasure Coast Newspapers – Arnie Rosenberg and George Andreassi, All Aboard Florida
3. The Palm Beach Post – Charles Elmore, How safe is your insurer?
Courts and Law Reporting: All Dailies
1. The Palm Beach Post – Pat Beall, Dying for Care
2. Miami Herald – Jay Weaver, A-Rod’s Confession and Other Legal Tales
3. The Florida Times-Union – Topher Sanders, Juvenile Justice?
Criticism: All Dailies
1. Tampa Bay Times – Stephanie Hayes, Performing Arts by Stephanie Hayes
2. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette – Philip Martin, Critical Mass
3. Tampa Bay Times – Sean Daly, Pop Music by Sean Daly
Deadline Reporting: Large Dailies
1. Miami Herald – Miami Herald Staff, Historic Change: A Thaw in U.S.-Cuba Ties
2. The Advocate – Gordon Russell and John Simerman, Ex-mayor Guilty
3. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette – Staff, Tornado deaths reach 15
Deadline Reporting: Small Dailies
1. The Greenwood Commonwealth – Bryn Stole and Tim Kalich, Greenwood School District threatened with state takeover
2. Clayton News Daily – Curt Yeomans, Morrow city manager hiring raises questions
3. The Greenwood Commonwealth – Bryn Stole, IRS slaps tax lien on Itta Bena; Itta Bena Police Dept. will close
Disaster Reporting: All Dailies
1. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette – Staff, April 27 tornado and after
2. Associated Press – Michael Biesecker and Mitch Weiss, The Dan River Spill: Coal Ash Pollution and Political Cash
Editorial Writing: All Dailies
1. Alabama Media Group/AL.com – Staff, Why we cannot look away
2. Chattanooga Times Free Press – Pam Sohn, Chattanooga Times Editorials
3. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette – Paul Greenberg, A collection of Paul Greenberg’s editorials
Feature Writing: Large Dailies
1. The Charlotte Observer – Gary Schwab, Collection of articles
2. Chattanooga Times Free Press – Joan Garrett McClane, Collection of narrative articles
3. The Associated Press – Matt Sedensky, Body of Work
Feature Writing: Small Dailies
1. Clayton News Daily – Curt Yeomans, Love of the game
2. The Daily News Publishing Co. – Don Wade, Tackling the ‘Taboo’
Humorous Commentary: All Dailies
1. Knoxville News Sentinel/Independent – Mark D. Harmon, Dr. Pepper Will See You Now (The Tennessean), plus four online columns (Knoxviews)
2. The Commercial Appeal – David Williams and Okra Stufato, Leeks on pizza? There’s no accounting for taste
3. University of North Alabama – Scott Morris, Life in these times
Investigative Reporting: Large Dailies
1. Tampa Bay Times – Alexandra Zayas, Kris Hundley, Connie Humburg, Letitia Stein, Insult to Injury
2. The Florida Times-Union – Eileen Kelley, David Bauerlein, Jacksonville Pension Crisis
3. Tampa Bay Times – Will Hobson, New Beginnings
Investigative Reporting: Small Dailies
1. Scripps/Tribune Capitol Bureau – Matt Dixon, A collection of stories
2. The Hechinger Report – Jackie Mader and Sarah Butrymowicz, Pipeline to Prison
Non-Deadline Reporting: Large Dailies
1. Tampa Bay Times – Ben Montgomery and Edmund D. Fountain, The Lost Bones
2. Alabama Media Group/AL.com – Ben Raines, America’s Amazon
3. The Palm Beach Post – Stacey Singer, Supergerms
Non-Deadline Reporting: Small Dailies
1. The Greenwood Commonwealth – Bryn Stole, Freedom Summer, 50 years after
2. Fayetteville Observer – Drew Brooks, Fort Bragg troops in Afghanistan
3. Richmond County Daily Journal – Melonie Flomer, Hidden Homeless
Politics Reporting: All Dailies
1. Tampa Bay Times – Alex Leary, Alex Leary on Politics
2. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette – Lisa Hammersly, Chris Bahn, Political gifts on paper shrouded
3. Tampa Bay Times – Adam C. Smith, Adam Smith on politics
Public Affairs Reporting: All Dailies
1. Tampa Bay Times – Michael Van Sickler and Craig Pittman, King Ranch
2. The Advocate – Staff, Giving Away Louisiana
3. Knoxville News Sentinel – Jamie Satterfield, Costly claims
Public Service in Daily Journalism: All Dailies
1. The Palm Beach Post – Pat Beall, Dying for Care
2. The Post and Courier – Doug Pardue, Glenn Smith, Jennifer Berry Hawes and Natalie Caula-Hauff, Till Death Do Us Part
3. Alabama Media Group/AL.com – Staff, Alabama prisons: Unjust justice
Serious Commentary: All Dailies
1. Chattanooga Times Free Press – David Cook
2. Treasure Coast Newspapers – Eve Samples
3. Tampa Bay Times – John Romano
Sports Commentary: All Dailies
1. The Commercial Appeal – Geoff Calkins, Columns
2. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette – Wally Hall, Like It Is
3. The Daily News Publishing Co. – Don Wade, Don Wade 2014 sports commentary portfolio
Sports Reporting: All Dailies
1. The Commercial Appeal – Michael Cohen, Kings of the Road, What Happens in Vegas, They Don’t Want Me
2. Miami Herald – Mimi Whitefield, Lead-up to the World Cup
3. The Charlotte Observer – Gary Schwab, A binding truth
Technology Reporting: All Dailies
1. Chattanooga Times Free Press – Casey Phillips
Travel Writing: All Dailies
1. Miami Herald – Mimi Whitefield, International Travel from the Amazon Jungle to Tokyo
Business Reporting: Non-Dailies
1. Orlando Business Journal – Abraham Aboraya, Medical Marijuana, Main & Main, Knight Moves, Quiet on the Set, Tech Fusion, Faces of Innovation|
2. The Daily News Publishing Co. – Andy Meek, 2014 business reporting portfolio
3. The Daily News Publishing Co. – Amos Maki,i 2014 business portfolio
Courts & the Law Reporting: Non-Dailies
1. Miami New Times – Michael E. Miller, Who’s Watching the Guardians
2. Jackson Free Press – R.L. Nave, Prisons, Jails and Juvenile Justice in Mississippi
3. Tampa Bay Business Journal – Pam Huff, From darling to dog: The implosion of Tampa’s Creative Recycling
Criticism: Non-Dailies
1. Contemporary Media Inc. – Joe Boone, R&B Royalty, Record Reviews: Three Memphis Songwriters Wrestle with Mortality,
2. Contemporary Media Inc. – Chris McCoy, Finding Vivian Maier, Jodorowski’s Dune, Birdman: Or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance
Editorial Writing: Non-Dailies
1. Jackson Free Press – Donna Ladd and R.L. Nave, Editorials on Corruption, Transparency, School Choice
2. Contemporary Media Inc. – Bruce VanWyngarden, Bravo! Local Knowledge and The Ebola ‘Crisis’ Isn’t
3. Sarasota News Leader – Robert S. Hackney, Robert Hackney Collection
Feature Writing: Non-Dailies
1. Contemporary Media Inc. – Louis Goggans, The Silent Epidemic
2. Miami New Times – Michael E. Miller, Chavez, Matisse, and the Heist That Shook the Americas
3. Jackson Free Press – R.L. Nave, Ferguson: An American Moment
General News Reporting: Non-Dailies
1. Jackson Free Press – R.L. Nave, Haley Ferretti and Anna Wolfe, The Right for LGBT Rights in Mississippi
2. INDY Week – Billy Ball, Mentally ill inmate dead on arrival at Central Prison
3. Miami New Times – Trevor Bach, Blood on the Water
Humorous Commentary: Non-Dailies
1. New Times Broward Palm Beach – Kyle Swenson, The Holy Crusade for Cheap Beer
Investigative Reporting: Non-Dailies
1. New Times Broward Palm Beach – Kyle Swenson, Teens Tied Down and Shot Up With Drugs at Pembroke Pines Facility
2. Miami New Times – Michael E. Miller, Shock & Awe
3. INDY Week – John H. Tucker, Camp Fear
Politics Reporting: Non-Dailies
1. Jackson Free Press – R.L. Nave, Anna Wolfe, Donna Ladd Elections and PAC Transparency in Mississippi
2. The Daily News Publishing Co. – Bill Dries, Bill Dries 2014 politics portfolio
3. Contemporary Media Inc. – Jackson Baker, The Prince of Nashville
Public Affairs Reporting: Non-Dailies
1. Miami New Times – Michael E. Miller, VA Scandals
2. The Daily News Publishing Co. – Bill Dries, Bill Dries 2014 public affairs portfolio
3. Contemporary Media Inc. – Bianca Phillips, Ten Questions for the TVA Coal-Burning Power Plant
Public Service in Non-Daily Journalism
1. Jackson Free Press – Ronni Mott, Donna Ladd, R.L. Nave, Michelle Byrom: An Innocent Woman on Death Row?
2. Contemporary Media Inc. – Louis Goggans, Gateway to Disaster
Serious Commentary: Non-Dailies
1. Jackson Free Press – Donna Ladd, Editor’s Notes: Race, LGBT Rights, Family Violence and An Innocent Woman
2. Miami New Times – Chuck Strouse, El Jefe Column
Sports Reporting: Non-Dailies
1. Miami New Times – Tim Elfrink, Biogenesis follow ups
2. INDY Week – John H. Tucker, Pinned: A wrestling star succumbs to injury. A mother goes to the mat.
Technology Reporting: Non-Dailies
1. Orlando Business Journal – Abraham Aboraya, Silicon wafer, tech fusion, faces of innovation, war 2024, research park declassified
Feature Writing: Magazines
1. Georgia Trend magazine – Susan Percy, Mayor of Georgia and A Kinder, Gentler Agriculture and Unbroken Circle
2. Contemporary Media Inc. – Eileen Townsend, All in the Family: Marisol Escobar’s Long and Winding Road
3. Contemporary Media Inc. – Richard J. Alley, The Mind’s Eye: Willy Bearden
General News Writing: Magazines
1. Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal – Tripp Mickle and Tom Stinson, Keeping it rolling
2. Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal – Michael Smith, John Ourand and David Bourne, Camera ready
3. Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal – Bill King and David Bourne Soccer’s growing reach
Humorous Commentary: Magazines
1. Cobb Life magazine – Mark Wallace Maguire, The Apple, The Tree and Letting it Be
2. Southern Poverty Law Center – Mark Potok, Dumb and Dumber
3. City & Shore Magazine – Mark Gauert, First Words, the Editor & Publisher’s letter
Investigative Reporting: Magazines
1. Akers Media Group – Gary Corsair, Mean Marie
2. Southern Poverty Law Center – Heidi Beirich, White Homicide Worldwide
3. Southern Poverty Law Center – Heidi Beirich, Financing Hate
Serious Commentary: Magazines
1. Georgia Trend magazine – Susan Percy, Business Casual columns
2. Akers Media Group – Gary Corsair, Letters From The Editor
3. Southern Poverty Law Center – Mark Potok, Propaganda, Duncan Hunter and the Border
Best Cover: Magazines
1. Angie’s List – Staff, Lead still lurking: What you need to know if you live in a pre-1978 home
2. Alabama Media Group – Staff, Birmingham Magazine; May 2014
3. Tampa Bay Times – Suzette Moyer, Bay
Editorial Cartoon: Newspapers
1. Independent – Robert L. Ariail, 2014 cartoons by Robert Ariail
2. Chattanooga Times Free Press – Clay Bennett, 2014 Editorial Cartoons
3. Cagle Cartoon Syndicate – Bill Day, Son of a Gun
Feature Photography: Newspapers
1. Chattanooga Times Free Press – Maura Friedman
2. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette – Benjamin Krain
3. Chattanooga Times Free Press – Doug Strickland
Graphics: Newspapers
1. Orlando Business Journal – Cheryl Bence, Gender wage gap
2. INDY Week – Lisa Sorg, JP Trostle, Andrew Edmonds and Candice Jansen, Mean Streets
Spot News Photography: Newspapers
1. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette – Stephen B. Thornton
Best Newscast: Television
1. WIAT-TV – WIAT Staff, WIAT Birmingham Flooding
Feature Reporting: Television
1. Bay News 9 – Jeff McAdam, High School Football Dangers
2. The Associated Press – Alex Sanz, At Boston Marathon, a Chance to Finally Finish
3. WNCN – Justin Quesinberry, First Light at Pinehurst
Investigative Reporting: Television
1. WFTS/ABC Action News – Adam Walser, Fran Gilpin, Matt McGlashen and Doug Iten, Insult to Injury
2. WSPA – Gordon Dill, Mike Owens and Doug Uhrich, Justice Seized
3. WSPA – Gordon Dill and Doug Uhrich, Dishonest Cop
Public Service in Television Journalism
1. WTSP – Mike Deeson, Amy Marinec, Melissa Rancourt and Paul Thorson, PSTA: Driving Outside the Lines
2. WFTS – Kristin Moore and Lissette Campos, 2014 Taking Action Against Domestic Violence
3. WTVJ – Robbi Peele, Tony Pipitone and Mc Nelly Torres, Florida Police Shot 574 people: Were they all justified?
Best Newscast: Radio
1. WUSF Public Radio – Carson Cooper
2. WLRN-Miami Herald News – WLRN-Miami Herald News with Christine DiMattei
3. WLRN-Miami Herald News – WLRN-Miami Herald News Staff with Luis Hernandez
Documentaries: Radio
1. WABE – Jim Burress, Stuck in the Bluff: AIDS, Heroin and One Group’s Illegal Quest to Save Lives
2. WFPL News – Devin Katayama, At Risk
3. North Carolina Public Radio WUNC – Dave DeWitt and Brent Wolfe, The Year Of The Teacher
Feature Reporting: Radio
1. WUSF Public Radio – Bobbie O’Brien, Army Ranger Cory Remsburg ‘Leads the Way’
2. WUSF Public Radio – Mark Schreiner, STEM Superheroes Kickstart Next Phase of Work
3. WUSF Public Radio – Lottie Watts, FDA Rules Could Snuff Out ‘Cigar City’
Investigative Reporting: Radio
1. WLRN-Miami Herald News – Nadege Green, WLRN-Miami Herald News, David Smiley and Miami Herald, Our Buiding Is Owned By A Slumlord
2. WFPL News/Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting – Kristina Goetz and Erin Keane, Oversight of Indiana Tiger Exhibit Big on Growl, Light on Teeth
3. North Carolina Public Radio WUNC – Eric Mennel and Brent Wolfe, Eugenics Compensation
Public Service in Radio Journalism
1. North Carolina Public Radio WUNC – Staff, North Carolina Teacher Project
2. Florida Center for Investigative Reporting & WGCU – Ashley Lopez, Florida’s Shrinking Workforce
3. WUSF Public Radio – Bobbie O’Brien, Best Public Service: VA Scandal
Best Blog
1.Contemporary Media Inc. – Louis Goggans, Calling the Bluff
2. Contemporary Media Inc. – Vance Lauderdale, Ask Vance
3. The Palm Beach Post – John Kennedy, George Bennett and Christine Stapleton, Post on Politics
Deadline Reporting: Online
1. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette – Arkansas Online and Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Staffs, Storm Coverage
2. Miami New Times – Michael E. Miller, Ultra Music Festival Deaths Reporting
3. Tampa Bay Times – Marc Topkin, Joe Maddon leaves the Tampa Bay Rays
Digital Media Presentation
1. Chattanooga Times Free Press – Mary Helen Miller and Maura Friedman, Amendment 1
2. Sun Sentinel – Carline Jean, Diane Lade and Rachel Schallom, In Sickness And In Health
3. Tampa Bay Times – Alexandra Zayas, Kris Hundley, Connie Humburg and Letitia Stein, Insult to Injury
Investigative Reporting: Online
1. Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting – R.G. Dunlop, How a Congressman, His Wife and a Lobbyist Mixed Politics, Personal Finances
2. The Palm Beach Post – Lawrence Mower, Michelle Quigley, Fedor Zarkhin, Kavya, Sukumar Gaming the Lottery
3. Florida Center for Investigative Reporting – Tristram Korten and Trevor Aaronson, Profits and Public Records
Non-Deadline Reporting: Online
1. Chattanooga Times Free Press – Kevin Hardy, Dan Henry, Staff, Even Unto Death
2. Sarasota Herald-Tribune – Barbara Peters Smith, The Kindness of Strangers
3. The Hechinger Report – Kayleigh Skinner, The Mississippi Education Beat
Politics Reporting: Online
1. Tampa Bay Times – Times staff, PolitiFact on Ebola
2. Independent – Mary C. Curtis, Collection of Political Stories
Public Service in Online Journalism
1. Sarasota Herald-Tribune – Katy Bergen. Trans Sarasota
2.The Hechinger Report – Jackie Mader, Getting an Education in Mississippi
3. Tampa Bay Times – Times staff, PolitiFact on Ebola
Serious Commentary: Online
1. Independent – Mary C. Curtis, Collection of Columns
2. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette – John Brummett, John Brummett online
Specialized Site
1. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette – Cathy Frye, Rick McFarland, Chad Day and Staff, Other side of nowhere
2. Tampa Bay Times – Times staff, PunditFact
3. The Hechinger Report – Jackie Mader, Nick Chiles, Liz Willen, The Hechinger Report: Mississippi Learning
Videography: Online or Television
1. HGTVGardens – Felicia Feaster, Future Farmers
See the results – and comments from judges and winners – by clicking here.