The Dallas Morning News posted an exceptionally nice showing at the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors conference this year. We won best newspaper in the state overall, and a lot of hard working reporters and editors won recognition for their outstanding individual work.
I’d like to take just a minute to draw the attention of readers of this blog to the four members of this department who were recognized for their leadership and expertise with first-place awards. We’re a pretty small department, with just nine full-time members, and – if you’ll forgive the momentary immodesty – the fact that we scored three first place awards (in addition to several other seconds and thirds) is really pretty remarkable.
First of all, kudos to Tod Robberson for taking first place for editorial writing. We were allowed to enter just three examples of his work, and so we entered this editorial from our Tactics for a Turnaround series of editorials about the hiring of a new superintendent for DISD, this editorial about Backpage and sex traffickers and this editorial about how tax-credit housing can backfire as a way to break the slum cycle.
This is the fourth time in seven years that a DMN editorial writer has prevailed in this category.
Second, kudos to Tod, Mike Hashimoto and Rodger Jones for combining to win best blog in the state. Again, we were allowed to enter just three posts from the entire year and so we entered this one by Mike about John Wiley Price, this one by Tod about Pete Sessions and payday lenders and this one by Rodger inviting folks to walk with him to a DART station “or die trying.”
Last year, the DMN Opinion blog finished third in this category.
Third, Points Editor Nicole Stockdale shared in a first place in team design with the newspaper’s design director, Rob Schnieder, and illustrator extraordinaire, Michael Hogue, for this Points essay about the shrinking middle class. It was eye catching and informative all in one fell swoop.
None of this is to suggest that industry awards are the be all and end all. What’s most important, of course, is the quality of the daily pages we create to serve our readership and how effective we are at informing and engaging our audience throughout the year about the most important and timely issues before our community.
But it’s nice to take a moment from our hectic schedules to reflect on the good work that goes on around us. Our industry is a tough one these days; it’s changing rapidly and we’re all struggling to find new ways to do top-quality journalism amid a topsy-turvey business environment. It can be scary, it can be depressing, it can be frustrating.
But it also can be rewarding. It challenges us each day to be the best we can be. It challenges us to be fresh, smart and agile. Most of all, it challenges us to fully engage.
With all that in mind, I salute the hard work that goes into producing The Dallas Morning News every single day. And I offer special congratulations to Tod, Mike, Rodger and Nicole for making the Editorial team proud at TAPME!