COLUMBIA, Mo. – Religion News Service (RNS), an independent, nonprofit news organization covering religion, spirituality, culture and ethics, is pleased to congratulate members of the RNS team on their wins at the 2018 Religion News Association Awards Banquet this past weekend in Columbus, Ohio.

Religion journalists from RNS competed with colleagues from the across the nation and around the world in news, feature, commentary, broadcast, photo, video and multimedia categories.

“These journalists represent the best in the business,” said RNS CEO and Publisher Thomas Gallagher. “It is a great honor to be recognized by the Religion News Association, which is the premier journalism association for reporters who cover religion. We are proud to count a number of the winners in our ranks.”

RNS Editor-in-Chief Bob Smietana added, “RNS has a long history of producing great religion journalism. It’s great to see our team honored for their outstanding work.”

Winners affiliated with the Religion News Service:

In the Award for Excellence in Religion Reporting—Online-only News Outlets, RNS staff writer Jack Jenkins came in second for his work in Think Progress. Jenkins now is a full-time staff writer for RNS.

First place for Excellence in Religion Commentary went to Amy Sullivan of Yahoo and The New York Times. Sullivan is a member of the RNS Journalism Advisory Council. Second place was awarded to Thomas Reese, an RNS columnist. Jeff Chu won honorable mention for columns he wrote at RNS and other outlets.

Second place for Excellence in Religion News Analysis was awarded to Tom Verde for work at The New York Times, Politico and the Religion News Service.

First place in Photography: Single Image went to Kit Doyle of the Religion News Service.

In the Photo Series category, RNS contributor Alexandra Radu earned second place, and Doyle received an honorable mention.

Kimberly Winston, formerly of Religion News Service, won first place for Excellence in Religion Reporting—Large Newspapers and Wire Services.

Smietana took third place in the Excellence in Magazine and Non-Daily News Religion Reporting category for work done at Christianity Today.

For a full list of winners, visit the Religion News Association page.

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Religion News Service is an independent, nonprofit news organization that covers spirituality, culture and ethics, reported by a staff of professional journalists. Founded in 1934, RNS seeks to inform readers with objective reporting and insightful commentary and is relied upon by secular and faith-based news organizations in a number of countries. RNS is a subsidiary of the Religion News Foundation and affiliated with the Missouri School of Journalism at the University of Missouri. For more information, visit religionnews.com