Jim Lockwood, staff writer for The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pennsylvania, is the winner of the 2015 Public Notice Journalism Award. Lockwood is recognized for his deft incorporation of public notice information into his coverage of local government.
The award will be presented March 19 at the National Press Club.
A second-place award for 2015 will go to the Monroe County Reporter, Forsyth, Georgia, for team reporting on a school district’s attempts to acquire property by condemnation, over the landowner’s opposition. The district wanted to build a Fine Arts Center on the site, a project it eventually abandoned in the face of public opposition. The public notice figured into the story when the school board advertised its condemnation plans.
S.D. Newspaper Receives First Public Notice Journalism Award
Seth Tupper, publisher of the Mitchell (S.D.) Daily Republic, right, received his newspaper’s national Public Notice Journalism Award at the National Newspaper Association’s Leadership Summit at the National Press Club in Washington on March 13. Presenting the award was PNRC President Bradley L. Thompson II, chairman and CEO of the Detroit Legal News.
Bob Schieffer, long-time Washington correspondent for CBS News, lauded the Republic‘s work during his keynote speech at NNA’s Leadership Summit. Bob Schieffer, long-time Washington correspondent for CBS News, lauded the Republic’s work during his keynote speech at NNA’s Leadership Summit. Read South Dakota Newspaper Association general manager Dave Bordewyk’s column about the award and Schieffer’s mention of the newspaper.
PNRC Names First National Public Notice Journalism Award Winner
The Mitchell (S.D.) Daily Republic has been named the first recipient of the PNRC’s national Public Notice Journalism Award for 2014. The newspaper is recognized for a series inaugurated by an alert reader who spotted a payment by a local school board in a public notice. The reader’s tip to the newspaper led to a protracted open records lawsuit by the newspaper against the school district. The conclusion: the revelation of a $175,000 severance agreement with a former school superintendent that otherwise would not have reached the readers’ attention.
The award will be presented March 13 at the National Press Club. Republic editor Seth Tupper will receive the award on behalf of the newspaper.