Star-Telegram named Texas Online Newspaper of the Year
The Star-Telegram was named the Online Newspaper of the Year at the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors convention.
The award, announced Sunday, was one of three first-place honors the newspaper received during the weekend. The Star-Telegram, which competes in a division that includes the state’s largest newspapers, won a total of 13 awards.
Steve Coffman, the Star-Telegram’s editor, said he was proud to see the work of his colleagues recognized.
“The results show that our newsroom is producing some of the best work in the state of Texas across all journalistic disciplines,” he said.
Opinion editor Michael Ryan and columnist Bud Kennedy won first place for Editorial Writing, and former videographer Jared Christopher won the top prize for a Video Longer Than Two Minutes for an episode of Titletown, TX: Season 2 (Heart Over Height). Another episode was honorable mention. The series chronicled Texas Wesleyan’s return to football in 2017.
The Star-Telegram was recognized in three categories — third for Team Effort and honorable mentions for Online Live Coverage and Breaking News Report — for its response to breaking news.
Former reporter Sarah Smith received second place in Specialty Reporting for her coverage of sexual assault scandals within the Southern Baptist Convention and in independent fundamental Baptist churches. Smith also received honorable mention for Star Reporter of the Year.
The newspaper’s “Spirit of Fear” series, which exposed widespread sexual abuse and coverups in independent fundamental Baptist churches, received third place for Online Package and honorable mention for Star Investigative Report.
Sports columnist Mac Engel received third-place honors in the category of Celeste Williams Sportswriter of the Year, named for the former longtime Star-Telegram sports editor who died in 2017. Sportswriter Drew Davison received honorable mention in Sports Feature for his profile of Cowboys rookie Leighton Vander Esch.
This story was originally published March 4, 2019 at 3:59 PM with the headline "Star-Telegram named Texas Online Newspaper of the Year."
