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CT
SPJ Awards Dinner and Annual Meeting
Winners
of 2005 SPJ Excellence in Journalism Awards
Fantasia
404 Washington Ave., North Haven
Thursday, May 25, 2006, 5:30 p.m.
Courant
Series On UConn Wins Award
Former
Law Tribune Publisher & Editor Wins First Amendment Award
Associated
Press
May 26, 2006
NORTH HAVEN -- The Hartford Courant's reporting on mismanagement of
the University of Connecticut's $2.3 billion UConn 2000 building program
was honored Thursday at the Society of Professional Journalists' annual
Excellence in Journalism Awards with one of the organization's top prizes.
The state SPJ chapter honored the work by staff writers Dave Altimari and
Grace E. Merritt with its Stephen A. Collins Public Service Award.
"In a field of exceptionally strong entries, UCONN 2000 stood out for
its dramatic impact," the judges wrote.
"Skipping Class," an investigation by the Republican-American of
Waterbury into teacher absenteeism, received the Theodore Driscoll
Investigative Award. The judges called the entry by reporter Tracie
Mauriello "the clear winner" and "the most original in the
category."
"Education reporting is often considered a backwater, yet educational
issues affect everyone in a way that sports stories or residential
development stories don't," the judges wrote. "Mauriello and the
Republican properly focused attention on a sometimes less-than-'sexy'
topic. They deserve every accolade possible for this effort."
The chapter's First Amendment Award went to Vincent Michael Valvo, former
publisher and editor of the Connecticut Law Tribune and current editor of
the Hartford Business Journal.
He received the award for the Law Tribune's special supplement,
"Freedom of Information 30th Anniversary," outlining the law's
history and purpose.
"The publication stands out among several strong entries in this
category that display the work being done there to familiarize the people
with their rights under the law," the judges wrote.
The journalism organization also inducted Harold Hornstein and the late
Edward Frede into the Connecticut Journalism Hall of Fame at Thursday's
meeting and presented $6,750 in college scholarships. Frede, the former
editor of the News-Times of Danbury, died this year. Copyright 2006
Associated Press
Other winners included:
Op-ed Columns -- Regional non-daily
* FIRST PLACE: Satanic verses and FBI fairy tales, Andy Thibault,
Connecticut Law Tribune
* SECOND PLACE: Fair play and anarchism at Yale, Andy Thibault,
Connecticut Law Tribune
General Columns -- Regional non-daily
* HONORABLE MENTION: Probable cause, ice cream and the truth, Andy
Thibault, Connecticut Law Tribune
Headlines --
* FIRST PLACE: various headlines including Reefer Madness At High Court,
Andy Thibault, Connecticut Law Tribune
all
columns are posted @ www.andythibault.com,
under the link 'columns & stories.'
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