APRILS BEST OF THE MONTH WINNERS
Congratulations to Brianna Bailey, who was selected Best Overall
for April. Brianna conceptualized her #walkonwestern, trudged the
27 miles from Edmond to Moore -- photographing, tweeting and
interacting with Oklahoma Cityans as she went each day -- then
wrote up a story that helped our citys residents learn more about
the varied places in their own hometown. Business Editor Don Mecoy
said: Brianna hit on many aspects of our mission statement with
imagination, verve, and good old-fashioned shoe leather. Her effort
would not have been as successful if she did not collaborate
closely with folks in our Photo, Video and Social Media departments
to help chronicle her progress from one end of Western to the
other. Excellent collaboration!
Winners in other categories:
Best Beat or Breaking News
From: Robby Trammell
Nominee: Rick Green
Play State texting-driving ban is on way to becoming law
http://archive.newsok.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=Oklahoman&BaseHref=DOK/2015/04/30&PageLabelPrint=1A&EntityId=Ar00101&ViewMode=GIFBest
Feature Story
From: Robby Trammell
Nominee: Nolan Clay
Page 1 Ex-FBI special agent credits higher power for his part in
bombing case
http://archive.newsok.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=Oklahoman&BaseHref=DOK/2015/04/13&PageLabelPrint=1A&EntityId=Ar00102&ViewMode=GIFBest
Specialty FeatureFrom: Matt Price
Nominee: Carla Hinton
The Prince of Peace Easter pageant held in the Holy City of the
Wichitas at the Wichita Wildlife Refuge in southwest Oklahoma is
celebrating its 90th year. Carla Hinton did a great job capturing
the feel of the event for a page 1 Easter story.
http://newsok.com/article/5407434Best Sports Story
From: Mike Sherman
Nominee: Darnell Mayberry
On the day James Harden was set to play the Thunder in Oklahoma
City, with ABC broadcasting the game, Darnell gave 13 reasons -- 13
for Harden's No. 13 jersey -- why OKC's Harden-to-Houston trade
will never die. It was as well-reported, analyzed and presented
list and it was the most viewed story on NewsOK for April with
94,000 page views.
http://newsok.com/article/5407507Best Business Story or Business
Feature
From: Don Mecoy
Nominee: Paul Monies
Paul had to quickly turn around a very technical report from the
U.S. Geological Survey that concluded that broadened the scope of
what it considers to be induced earthquakes in Oklahoma. After
posting a quick online version, Paul sorted through a lot of data,
contacted numerous sources and produced a clear version for our
readers.
http://newsok.com/article/5413001Best
Project/Enterprise/In-Depth Story
From: Don Mecoy
Nominee: Brianna Bailey
Brianna's #walkonwestern was a smashing success. She conceived
the idea, walked the walk and then talked the talk -- both online
and in print. She opened a window for our readers to their
sprawling city that is not often seen, highlighting businesses,
neighborhoods and personalities along the way. She tweeted,
generating the trending #walkonwestern hashtag, provided photo and
video, provided content for a live article and wrote a heck of a
story.
http://newsok.com/article/5413826From: Phillip OConnor
Nominee: Juliana Keeping
Juliana's words, along with Doug Hoke's portraits, told the
intimate, heroic and heartbreaking stories of about dozen
Vietnamese refugees who escaped their war-ravaged country and are
now proud to call America and Oklahoma home. The short vignettes
and video interviews helped capture the essence of the immigrant
experience and the human impact of a war that ended 40 years
ago.
http://newsok.com/article/5414885Best Watchdog
From: Robby Trammell
Nominee(s): Andrew Knittle/Jaclyn Cosgrove
Play/Centerpiece Oklahomas Deadliest Month; 61 lives were
claimed by prescription drug overdose deaths in March 2014
http://archive.newsok.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=Oklahoman&BaseHref=DOK/2015/04/12&PageLabelPrint=1A&EntityId=Ar00110&ViewMode=GIFBest
Column/Opinion/First-Person
From: Mike Sherman
Nominee: Berry Tramel
Of all the columns Berry Tramel has written for The Oklahoman,
none have gotten a bigger response, or touched more readers than
his column written on the day his mother died at age 82.
http://newsok.com/eighty-one-years-of-health-and-joy-and-when-the-health-went-the-joy-didnt/article/5408824Best
Blog/Social Media Effort
From: Tom Maupin
Nominee: Tom Maupin
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153263376264074.1073741833.86672804073&type=3That
is the link to my Camera on the City album in the newspaper's
Facebook page. In early April, Tiffany Gibson created the album for
my downtown photos. The photos show day and nights views of
downtown Oklahoma City and areas of the Myriad Gardens. Twenty-four
photos were posted during April. They were posted April 7, 14 and
28. By 7:30 p.m. April 30, there were 113 likes, 15 shares, and 4
comments for the overall package. Many of the individual photos
also had likes and comments.
Before April, I already had submitted to the paper's Facebook
page 23 other photos from January to March. Those photos included
images from our old building and night shots of our new
building.
Best Photo
From: Doug Hoke
Nominee: Nate Billings
Matt Story and Sister Dawn Mahan hug the chair of their mother,
Frances "Fran" Ann Williams, after the 20th Anniversary Remembrance
Ceremony, Sunday, April 19, 2015, at the Oklahoma City National
Memorial & Museum, site of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah
Federal Building. Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman
Strong photo for the 20th anniversary. Shows the pain never goes
away and really hit home with our readers, as example from this
email: Nate, I've never sent an email to a photo journalist. My
husband and I both still subscribe to the 'real' paper (vs.
internet viewing). About 10 minutes ago, I sat down at the coffee
table and picked up today's paper. I read the obituaries and the
Life section. Then the big picture on the front page caught my eye.
In about an eighth of a second, my eyes filled with tears. But what
YOUR photo did for me was bring instant compassion and love for
that brother and sister I don't even know. Did you know your work
has that impact on us? Thank you, Mr. Billings. (P.S.: I worked at
Presbyterian Hospital April, 1995, and saw our first trauma triage
patients come through.)Alice C Baker
Best Design/Illustration
From: Clytie Bunyan
Nominee(s): Todd Pendleton, Chris Schoelen, Ebony Dallas, Steve
Boaldin
Todd, Chris, Ebony and Steve did an outstanding job on
illustrations for this years Outlook special section, with very
artistic portraits on each section front.
Best Headline(s)
From: Mike Sherman
Nominee: Rob Backus
BROOKS & DONE
AFTER SEVEN SEASONS AND ONE YEAR LEFT ON HIS CONTRACT, THUNDER
COACH SCOTT BROOKS HAS BEEN FIRED
Best Effort to Improve Accuracy
From: Tom Maupin
Nominee: Tom Maupin
We need to get history and military things correct. Slotting the
April 29, Page 1 story about Dachau, Tom saw the story said Dachau
had been in operation since 1943. A few graphs later the story said
Dachau was established in 1933. A quick Web search showed 1933 was
correct. Even farther down, the story said the camp was started the
year Hitler came to power, which was 1933. The story and a cutline
had: Maj. Gen. Robbie Asher, adjunct general for the Oklahoma
National Guard. The title is adjutant general, according to the
Oklahoma National Guard website.
This catch saved us from being embarrassed. 18 or 19? An Edmond
story for April 18 reported on a memorial service for the 18 Edmond
residents killed in the 1995 OKC bombing. Tom was slot and counted
19 names at the end of the story. The local desk editor called
Edmonds mayor and was told one of the men listed was not an Edmond
resident and should not be included. The mayor said 18 was
correct.
Name and wording problem -- wasnt a lifelong passion and name
was wrong. Slotting an April 2 story about a knife maker, Tom saw
the story stated the craft was a lifelong passion for Yukon
resident Bill Kennedy, 59. But the story also said Kennedy had been
doing this for more than three decades. Thats shorter than his 59
years. Tom rewrote the sentence. Reading the items cutlines, Tom
saw that the man was named Bill Kennedy Jr. Tom had the rimmer call
the reporter about the name. Tom also checked Kennedys website,
which listed Jr. Tom added Jr. to the story and the reporter said
Jr. was correct.
Tom also had many headline catches. Here are some:
Headline missed $1,000. Slotting an April 4 state brief, Tom saw
this headline: Researcher gets $21K swine grant. But the story had
the correct amount: The U.S. Department of Agriculture and Tuskegee
University have awarded $22,000 to Langston University .
A headline mistake caught. A rimmers deck headline for an April
14 business story read: Architects Elliott, Ainsworth create
unusual design for triangular property at NW 5 and Harrison in OKC.
The comma implies and. But the story said Chuck Ainsworth is a
developer not an architect. Tom changed the deck headline to:
Architect, developer show unusual design for triangular property at
NW 5 and Harrison in OKC.
Headline had the wrong building. Slotting an April 16 story, Tom
saw this headline: Bridenstine campaign amends reports of political
lunches at House. That was wrong because at House implied the
lunches were in the U.S. House section of the Capitol. The story
reported the lunches in question were in a U.S. House office
building. That was not the U.S. Capitol. For the first read
headline, Tom changed the headline wording to: political lunches at
House office building. The layout person later trimmed the headline
to fit on his page.
Headline was misleading. Slotting an April 16 business brief,
Tom saw this headline: Insurance official names counsel. Insurance
official implied a person in the insurance industry. The story was
about state Insurance Commissioner John Doak naming a general
counsel for the state Insurance Department. Tom changed the briefs
headline to: Doak names agencys counsel.Special Recognition
From: Matt Price
Nominees: Brandy McDonnell, Carla Hinton, Heather Warlick, Dave
Cathey, Silas Allen, Paul Hellstern, Greg Singleton, Dave Morris,
Doug Hoke, Jim Beckel, Steve Gooch, Chris Landsberger, possibly
others
Great job by a number of features and news staffers,
photographers and others to coordinate weeklong Arts Festival
coverage. Doug's series on artists and their hats was fantastic,
and complemented by Heather's charming story. Each day brought a
new window into the last year of the festival at its current
location.
http://newsok.com/children-experience-art-hands-first-at-the-festival-of-the-arts/article/5412821http://newsok.com/2015-festival-of-the-arts-fashions-found-at-oklahoma-citys-festival-of-the-arts/multimedia/video/4189622165001http://newsok.com/festival-of-the-arts-street-performer-balances-juggling-and-jokes/article/5413208http://newsok.com/fashion-function-and-art-artists-form-special-connections-to-their-festival-hats/article/5413675From:
Rob Hibbard
Nominee: Richard Hall
Richard's work on the Resilience package is great. He kept the
reader in mind and made the site completely responsive so it can be
viewed without problems on all devices. OETA even copied his
design, so that says something. Richard created an interactive
timeline called a story map for the Resilience package that helped
illustrate the OKC bombing timeline in a way we haven't done before
on our digital products.
www.oklahoman.com/resilience