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Journalists who cover the communities along the Rocky Mountains don't always see eye to eye. But we face many similar challenges our work, and every year, we come together to consider who among us has produced the most noteworthy stories of the past 12 months.
From environmental investigations to fun features, education and hard looks local policy, SFR is proud to share our award-winning work from the Society of Professional Journalists' Top of the Rockies contest among papers with circulation between 10,000 and 29,999. The region covers New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming and Utah.
Alex de Vore, who has been writing freelance music reviews and other culture content for the paper for nearly a decade and who joined the staff this year, won first place in arts and entertainment enterprise reporting for his "Pieces by Marcos." But the story didn't stop there. The mysterious Marcos, whose voice was captured on a decades-old cassette recording, emerged, with a little help from the press. Now the producer who started it all is on a mission to learn about the music that Marcos played. Listen to a recent update from a Seattle radio station.
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Elizabeth Miller won first place in the category of general reporting on the environment for "Sustainable Fable: Santa Fe's carbon neutral fantasy," a cover story that examined the city's stated goal to reduce its carbon footprint and the foolhardy lack of planning and political will to realistically get there. Miller, who came to Santa Fe as a staff writer last summer from Boulder, Colo., also earned first place in legal general reporting for "Loves Me Not," a report that analyzed the local response to domestic violence, both in the legal and social context, and found gaps in the system that sometimes lead to avoidable fatalities. Her reporting on a plume of chromium contamination moving away from Los Alamos National Laboratory also took top honors, in science general reporting.
Miller also won second places for "Teaching New Teachers" in the education general reporting category, for "Dirty Water" in science enterprise reporting, and for "Fractured Communities" in environment enterprise reporting, as well as third place in education enterprise reporting for "Schooled in Two," a cover story about the tension between bilingual education and English standardized tests.
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Freelance writer Peter St. Cyr took second place for general reporting on the fallout from an SFR series exposing a real estate deal that led to NM state Sen. Phil Griego walking away from his elected job in the Roundhouse before an ethics investigation could be concluded. St. Cyr also won second place for news features for "Transformation," a story on community programs to connect drug offenders with rehab centers and keep them out of jail.
Former culture editor Enrique Limón, now managing editor at Salt Lake City Weekly, also won first place for an SFR cover story featuring Native artists last year called "Appropriate This!" Justin Horwath, now working at the Santa Fe New Mexican, took third place in politics enterprise reporting for "Access Peak: How United Healthcare bought access to the governor, won lucrative contracts with New Mexico and avoided scrutiny in the behavioral health care shakeup."
See a full list of contest winners courtesy of SPJ Colorado Pro.
Santa Fe Reporter