Pacific Northwest Newspaper Association

Blethen Award winners announced



 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 17, 2009
2009 C.B. Blethen Memorial Award Winners Announced

Download pdf of winners

Seattle, WA -- the 2009 C. B. Blethen Memorial award winners were announced at the 89th Pacific Northwest Press Summit in Seattle today. The C.B. Blethen memorial awards were created in 1977 to honor one of the Northwest's most distinguished newspapermen. C. B. Blethen was publisher of The Seattle Times from 1915 until his death in 1941.

The winners were announced Thursday, Sept. 17 at the Blethen awards luncheon. The winners and the categories are:

Distinguished Diversity Reporting
Circulation under 50,000
First place -- Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, Walla Walla, WA for Being different, staying safe, by Sheila Hagar
Second place
--Yakima Herald-Republic, for Series of Stories Diversity, by Melissa Sanchez, Ross Courtney, and Phil Ferolito
Circulation over 50,000
First place
--The Seattle Times, Seattle, WA for Series of stories on diversity, by The Seattle Times Staff
Second place
--The Oregonian, Portland, WA for Clashing cultures, fractured families, by Gosia Wosniacka

Distinguished Deadline Reporting
Circulation under 50,000
First place
--The Olympian, Olympia, WA for Olympia man wins lawsuit over "communist" label, by Jeremy Pawloski
Second place
--The Daily Herald, Everett, WA for Swamped and weary, by The Daily Herald Staff
Circulation over 50,000
First place
--The Oregonian, Portland, WA for 9 presumed dead in firefighter air crash, by The Oregonian Staff
Second place
--The Seattle Times, Seattle, WA for January flood series, by The Seattle Times Staff

Distinguished Enterprise Reporting
Circulation under 50,000
First place
--Herald and News, Klamath Falls, OR for To merge, or not to merge and Changing schools, by Ty Beaver, Jill Aho, and
Ryan Pfeil
Second place
--Herald and News, Klamath Falls, OR for Letters from war, by Ryan Pfeil
Circulation over 50,000
First place
--The Oregonian, Portland, WA for China-Oregon trade partners series, by Amy Hsuan
Second place
--The Seattle Times, Seattle, WA for How we're still failing our sound, by Warren Cornwall, Craig Welch, Lynda V.Mapes, and Justin Mayo

Distinguished Feature Writing
Circulation under 50,000
First place
--The Daily Herald, Everett, WA for A truth beyond, by Scott North
Second place
--Idaho Falls Post Register, Idaho Falls, ID for Cancer slows Leadore coach's body, but not spirit, by Zach Kyle
Circulation over 50,000
First place
--The Seattle Times, Seattle, WA for A lifetime of care, by Maureen O'Hagan
Second place
--The Oregonian, Portland, WA for Love and rage shape a life, by Tom Hallman Jr.

Distinguished Investigative Reporting
Circulation under 50,000
First place
--Yakima Herald-Republic, Yakima, WA for Hidden wells, dirty water, by Leah Beth Ward
Second place
--The Daily Herald, Everett, WA for Behavior issues, by Eric Stevick and Scott North
Circulation over 50,000
First place
--The Seattle Times, Seattle, WA for MRSA: Culture of resistance, by Michael J. Berens and Ken Armstrong
Second place
--The Seattle Times, Seattle, WA for The favor factory, by David Heath and Christine Willmsen

Debby Lowman Award for Distinguished Reporting of Consumer Affairs
No Circulation breakout

First place
--The Daily Herald, Everett, WA for Baby bottle brouhaha, by Sarah Jackson
Second placeThe Seattle Times, Seattle, WA for Comcast's digital switch, by Brier Dudley

For more information, contact: Bryan Clark, 916-288-6001

SPONSORED BY THE SEATTLE TIMES
IN COOPERATION WITH
THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION

Past Blethen Contest Winners