Seven Deseret News journalists took home 11 awards in the recent Top of the Rockies journalism competition sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists.
The Deseret News earned four first-place, four second-place and three third-place awards in the regional competition for journalists in Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming:
Reporter Lois M. Collins took first in the science-and-technology category for her story "Give thanks for the fruit fly"
Reporter Elizabeth Stuart also won a first-place award in the law-and-order category for her story "Stolen innocence: the battle against modern-day slavery in the U.S."
Reporter Amy Choate-Nielsen won first place in enterprise reporting for her story "The danger down below," which raised awareness about the prevalence of toxic waste in Utah
Photographer Jeffrey D. Allred also took first place in the spot news category with his image Mountain Fire" and second place for the photo "Unbreakable"
Reporter Sara Israelsen-Hartley won two second-place awards, in the law-and-order category for "Innocence Lost" and the politics category for "Pro-life movement making a comeback"
Collins and Stuart took second and third for feature writing on health care: Stuart was second for her story "Seeds of Hope" and Collins was third for the story "Unbreakable."
Editorial writer Jay Evensen won third place for personal columns, for "It's now time for 'occupiers' to hit the road," "Warren Jeffs a monster, but popular culture not much better," "BYU 'honor' shocks nation that treasures wins," "Brandon Davies should have been story of the week," and "Is it OK to celebrate Osama bin Laden's death?"
Reporter Joey Ferguson took third place in the business general reporting category for his story "Genealogy: Expanding the family tree."
Email: tackerman@desnews.com