NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–Southern Baptist communications workers were among those recognized this year by various professional organizations for their achievements in writing, photography, design and other forms of Christian media as part of several contests.
Seven grand prize winners were announced in mid-April for the Baptist Communicators Association’s Wilmer C. Fields Awards Competition. Don Graham of the International Mission Board received the Frank Burkhalter Award for significant achievement in religious news writing; Barbara Denman of the Florida Baptist Convention received the Arthur S. Davenport Award for exceptional achievement in public relations and development; and Polly House of LifeWay Christian Resources received the Leonard Holloway Award for exceptional achievement in feature writing.
Also receiving BCA grand prize awards were the International Mission Board’s South Asia media team, which won the M.E. Dodd Award for significant achievement in radio, television, film and video; Kathryn Carson of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, who won the Albert McClellan Award for significant achievement in print media and design; Matt Jones of the International Mission Board, who won the Fon H. Scofield Award for significant achievement in photography; and the International Mission Board’s media group, which was recognized for exceptional achievement in interactive communications.
Baptist Press won four BCA awards, including second place for the convention news service’s website in the interactive communications division. Will Hall and Erin Roach won first place in the news writing division for their World AIDS Day package. Hall, executive editor of Baptist Press, also won second place for a first person column, and Roach, a staff writer, won first place for a single article in the feature writing division.
The Baptist Communicators Association, which is more than 50 years old and has about 250 members, has posted a complete list of award winners at www.baptistcommunicators.org/awards.
In addition to the recognition among Southern Baptists, other communications workers employed by SBC entities and state convention newspapers were honored by broader religious organizations.
The Evangelical Press Association gave its award of excellence for Most Improved Publication to the Oklahoma Baptist Messenger, noting the newspaper included “particularly clear, easy reading” and positive visual changes. Among the Higher Goals recipients was The Alabama Baptist, which won first place in the editorial division for a column by editor Bob Terry.
The Religion Communicators Council, a national interfaith association of about 500 professional communicators, honored Will Hall, executive editor of Baptist Press, with an award of excellence in the miscellaneous periodicals category for Baptist Press and an award of merit in Web editorial writing for a column on choosing life.
RCC also recognized Polly House, a corporate communications specialist for LifeWay Christian Resources, with an award for best of class in writing as well as an award of excellence in the newspaper single story category and an award of merit in the magazine single article category.
Jennifer Davis Rash and Grace Thornton of The Alabama Baptist received the RCC award of excellence in the local or regional newspaper category, and Kelly Davis Shrout, Katie Shull and Jenny Rice of LifeWay received an RCC award of excellence in the local or regional newsletter category.
The Associated Church Press, a professional organization founded in 1916, gave its award of merit to The Alabama Baptist for the best in class regional newspaper.
Erin Roach, a staff writer for Baptist Press, won the ACP’s award of merit for a feature article in the news service, newsletter or website category. ACP gave its award of merit for convention or meeting coverage by a news service to Baptist Press for “Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting Coverage.”
Also receiving an ACP award of merit were Will Hall, Erin Roach and Brent Thompson for a World AIDS Day package in the category of in-depth coverage by a newspaper, news service, newsletter or website. Will Hall received an ACP award of merit in the interview category for an article on former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee.
In the ACP’s biographical profile category, Grace Thornton of The Alabama Baptist won an award of merit.
Kelly Boggs, a regular columnist for Baptist Press, won honorable mention in the ACP’s column category. Boggs is editor of the Baptist Message, the newspaper of the Louisiana Baptist Convention.
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Compiled by Baptist Press staff.
