c. 2004 Religion News Service
WASHINGTON _ A religion writer at The San Diego Union-Tribune was named religion reporter of the year and the editor of Religion News Service was given a lifetime achievement award at the annual awards ceremony of the Religion Newswriters Association.
Sandi Dolbee, the immediate past president of the association, earned the $3,500 Templeton Reporter of the Year award for excellence in enterprise reporting and versatility in her coverage of religion in the secular press.
In a written statement, judges said Dolbee wrote stories that are “sensitive, well-written and painstakingly and thoroughly researched.” They also said Dolbee “uses background, detail and sources so real they seem like friends.”
During the Saturday (Sept. 11) ceremony, Religion News Service Editor David E. Anderson, 63, was honored with the William A. Reed Lifetime Achievement Award. Anderson, RNS editor since 1997, is moving from Washington to Montana, where he will become senior editor of RNS while serving as a consultant for the “Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly” television show.
Eric Gorski of The Denver Post was named the Supple Religion Writer of the Year, a $1,000 award that recognizes a reporter’s writing skill and grasp of a variety of issues on the beat.
The winner of a new award, the John M. Templeton Religion Story of the Year, was Rukmini Maria Callimachi for the Daily Herald of Arlington Heights, Ill. Callimachi wrote a series of stories called “Passage From India” about Indian immigrants in suburban Chicago.
The Cassels Award, recognizing religion reporters at small newspapers, went to Gloria LaBounty of The Sun Chronicle in Attleboro, Mass., for the second consecutive year. The Cornell Award, for religion writers at mid-sized papers, went to Peggy Fletcher Stack of the Salt Lake Tribune.
The Salt Lake Tribune also won the Schachern Award for Excellence in Religion Pages or Sections in the category of mid-sized newspapers.
The award for the best religion section for large newspapers went to The Dallas Morning News, making it a record-breaking winner in that category with its eighth honor. In the category for smaller newspapers, the Santa Barbara News-Press won for its religion section.
The Chandler Award for Student Religion Writer of the Year went to Andy Olsen of Asbury College in Wilmore, Ky.
The association also presented three awards in broadcast categories.
Barbara Bradley Hagerty of National Public Radio in Washington received the award for Radio Excellence in Religion Reporting in national markets.
Simone Orendain of Northern Public Radio in DeKalb, Ill., won the same award for local markets.
Kim Lawton and the team at “Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly,” a PBS program produced in Washington, received the award for Television Excellence in Religion Reporting in both national and local markets. Judges praised Lawton and her team for “setting a national standard for balanced and fair coverage.”
