SFR Wins Regional Journalism Honors

Santa Fe Reporter won top honors at the 2014 Top of the Rockies regional journalism awards from the Society of Professional Journalists for coverage of copper rules, marriage equality and other topics.

Enrique Limón, SFR Deputy Editor/Arts & Culture, received a first place award for a collection stories on Santa Fe County's journey toward affirming same-gender marriages.

Frequent contributor Laura Paskus won first prize for in the environmental reporting category for her expose on copper regulations or the lack thereof: The Canary in the Copper Mine (is dead): How New Mexico's copper industry wrote its own rules.

SFR writers swept the features category, with Justin Horwath in first place for his Walmartians cover story about people who spend the night at the big-box giant's parking lot, Joey Peters in second place for his Fowl Play report about the ongoing drama with chickens in Eldorado, and freelance writer Peter St. Cyr in third for No Easy Ride about a medical cannabis courier. 

St. Cyr also earned third place in the investigative/enterprise reporting category for The Unkindest Cut, a cover story about wage theft in New Mexico.

In addition, Horwath earned a second place in politics and enterprise reporting for Real Clear Politics: A new 501(c)4: 'social welfare' group or political machine?, and third place education enterprise reporting for Business School. Limón also won a third place in arts and entertainment enterprise for a story on 'Game of Thrones' mastermind George R R Martin, a third place for arts and entertainment criticism for "Santa Fe's ever changing cultural scene," and a second place for headline writing.

The contest featured more than 400 entries from New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. Winners were announced at a reception in Denver on Friday.

Santa Fe Reporter