Paper wins 22 awards
STAFF REPORT



The Herald-Tribune won 22 awards Friday in Florida's most prestigious annual journalism competition, sponsored by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors.

The newspaper took a Gold Medal for public service for midsized papers for Matthew Doig and Maurice Tamman's report on former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley's boyhood relationship with a Catholic priest. The story, which also took first place for daily deadline reporting, was one of nine first-place awards for the Herald-Tribune.

Judges described their work as an exclusive report that beat every other publication. The gold medal was the third since 2001 for the Herald-Tribune.

Columnist Rich Brooks won a first-place award for column writing for several pieces about his struggle with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Brooks won the same award last year for his columns.

Photographer Dan Wagner won first place for Individual Achievement/Body of Work in Photography for a portfolio of his work. Elaine Litherland won first prize for feature photography for her photo, "Nowhere to Hide," and Rob Mattson won a first prize in sports photography for "Pulling for Sarasota."

Jennifer Borresen captured a first prize for graphics design for "Shark Encounter." Ron Borresen took a second prize for an illustration for "Christmas Florida."

Alan Shaw won first place and Gerry Galipault placed third for headline writing. Gloria George and Pete Smith took first place for front page design.

In beat reporting, Victor Hull took second place for his coverage of aging.

The newspaper's Web site, herald tribune.com, took second place for overall site and for spot news and special packages.

Business writer Michael Braga took third place in the investigative reporting category for stories on deals by real estate financier Neil Mohamad Husani. Fellow business staffer Devona Walker took third place in the explanatory writing category for "Immigrants in Florida."

Herald-Tribune designers swept first and second place categories for features page design. Michelle Greene won for a Florida West cover page. Tony Elkins took second for a "Ticket" entertainment guide cover.

The Herald-Tribune sports staff won a third-place award for "Prep Football Preview -- Where Football is King." Chris Anderson won third place for sports columns for a collection of various columns.

The paper's staff also won a third-place award for special sections for its annual hurricane guide.

The top prize for large circulation papers, the Gold Medal for Public Service, went to The Miami Herald for "House of Lies" by Debbie Cenziper, who now writes for The Washington Post.

Andrew Barnes, former chairman of the St. Petersburg Times, was inducted into the Florida Newspaper Hall of Fame.

The Waldo Profitt Award for Environmental Journalism, named for the retired Herald-Tribune editor and current columnist, was awarded to Matt Waite and Craig Pittman of the St. Petersburg Times and Jane Healy of the Orlando Sentinel.

For a complete list of winners, go to www.fsne.org.
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