‘Boulder Weekly’ wins 28 awards from SPJ

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Boulder Weekly has received 11 first-place honors and 17 other awards for its 2012 articles in a multi-state contest held annually by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ).

Results of the Top of the Rockies competition for SPJ Region 9, which includes Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, were announced May 17.

BW Editor Joel Dyer won first place in the agricultural enterprise reporting category for his April 30 article “Monsanto’s point of no return.” He also won top honors for a news feature story, “Motive behind the madness in Sikh shooting,” published Aug. 9, and for his May 31 firsthand account of oil and gas hotbed Pavillion, Wyo., “Fracking lessons,” in the environmental enterprise reporting category.

He and Managing Editor Jefferson Dodge won first-place awards in general environmental reporting for the Sept. 20 story “Waste injection wells: The Earth’s invisible dump,” and in political enterprise reporting for “Unzipped,” a May examination of claims of impropriety in Boulder City Council’s financial disclosures.

Dodge got top honors for a Nov. 22 news column, “Papers please: An attempt to infiltrate a closed meeting of a Boulder County board” and, under education enterprise reporting, his August coverage of “fracademic freedom.”

He and Arts and Entertainment Editor David Accomazzo won first place in sports enterprise reporting for the Nov. 8 story “Colorado football players collected scholarship money despite legal troubles.”

Associate Editor Elizabeth Miller took first in the arts and entertainment enterprise reporting category for her Jan. 5 article “The reintroduction of Clyfford Still.” Accomazzo won top honors for the Jan. 12 piece “A tale of two predators,” in the legal general reporting category.

The entire BW staff collected first prize for general reporting in a series or package for its Fourth of July spread, “The changing face of patriotism.”

BW also took home 10 second-place awards and seven third-place honors, sweeping the categories of legal general reporting, political enterprise reporting and arts and entertainment enterprise reporting. The remaining award winners were:

Second Place

• Elizabeth Miller: “Sprayed trespass,” July 19, Agriculture: General Reporting; “A road too far,” Aug. 23, Environment: Enterprise Reporting; “Blue Colorado,” June 14, Environment: General Reporting; “Of adverbs and experimentation,” March 8, Arts and Entertainment Criticism; “One stage to rule them all,” Aug. 16, Sports: General Reporting; “Chasing the White Horse,” April 5, News Feature

• Hadley Vandiver: “Penny wise,” March war 25, vote Reporting Aug. Enterprise March 29, Health: General Reporting

• Jefferson Dodge: “Trampled antiwar veteran gets his day in court,” Oct. 25, Legal: General Reporting; “Can your vote be traced?” Sept. 6, Politics: Enterprise Reporting

• Joel Dyer: “Pilgrims of the stage,” Aug. 16, Arts and Entertainment Enterprise Reporting

Third Place

• Joel Dyer, Jefferson Dodge, Elizabeth Miller: “The ghosts of Valmont Butte series,” January–May, Public Service

• Joel Dyer: “Is City Council above the law?” June 21, News Column

• Steve Weishampel: “Boxed in: Resident says he turned to shipping containers after pressure,” Dec. 6, Legal: General Reporting

• Jefferson Dodge: “Heavy hitter to fight Longmont fracking ban,” Sept. 27, Politics: Enterprise Reporting

• David Accomazzo: “In the heart of Cirque du Soleil,” Feb. 2, Arts and Entertainment Enterprise Reporting

• Elizabeth Miller: “Written with a needle,” July 26, Arts and Entertainment Criticism

• Jefferson Dodge, Don Tartaglione, Michael Callahan, Travis Mannon: “Crews continue battling Flagstaff Fire outside of Boulder,” June 28, General Reporting – Series or Package.

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