2012 PAGE ONE AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Minnesota SPJ congratulates all 2012 Page One Award winners and would like to thank everyone who made the annual celebration a huge success.  A full list of contest winners is published below (in Excel or Word format).

A hard-charging courts reporter, an expose of a questionable Duluth doctor and a fast-paced look at an urban natural disaster are among the more than 180 journalists and their work honored at the 2012 Page One Awards Banquet.

The Minnesota Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists also bestowed its annual Peter S. Popovich Freedom of Information Award on Star Tribune reporters Richard Meryhew and Glenn Howatt. They used public documents and the power of their writing to pry into a pattern of inaction by the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice that potentially endangers patients. Their series of articles (beginning Feb. 5, 2012) includes a state-by-state comparison and an online searchable database of doctors.

Among the top awards, judges deemed the Duluth News Tribune’s Brandon Stahl the Journalist of the Year. Among other things Stahl and fellow writer Mark Stodghill completed an investigation of a doctor that started as a records request in 2006. The Star Tribune’s Abby Simons was named the Young Journalist of the Year.

CBS News Correspondent/co-host of “CBS This Morning: Saturday” and Minnesota native Rebecca Jarvis was the keynote speaker at the annual banquet.  Jarvis talked about the high journalistic standards her mother, Gail MarksJarvis imparted on her from a young age; shared memorable stories from her journalism career; and even talked about her experience competing on Season 4 of The Apprentice.

In addition to celebrating the 2012 Award winners, MN SPJ awarded two $2,400 scholarships to collegiate journalists Grace Webb from Minnesota State University-Mankato and Lindsey Branwall from State Cloud State University.  Thanks to the generosity of attendees, the chapter also raised $2,700 for its student scholarship fund at the 4th Annual MN SPJ Silent Auction.

The annual MN SPJ Page One Awards are judged by journalists in other states. This year’s entries were judged by print, online, magazine, radio and television reporters in Washington state, Michigan, Wisconsin and New England.

If you would like to order duplicate awards, or have any awards-related questions, please contact Minnesota SPJ at minnesota.spj@gmail.com.

Full Winners List (Word Format)
Full Winners List (Excel Format)