The Utah chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists this week honored the Deseret News and KSL television and radio, which are owned by Deseret Media Companies, with 57 awards.
Deseret News photographers Jeffrey Allred, Ravell Call and Laura Seitz were named the top three news photographers in Utah. KSL NewsRadio's Randall Jeppesen was named the state's best radio reporter.
The Deseret News brought home 21 awards.
Lois Collins and Sara Lenz earned a first-place award for their series on the sexualization of teens. Jay Evensen's editorial about polygamous leader Warren Jeffs was awarded top honors in the opinion column category.
In addition to being named the state's top photojournalist, Jeffrey Allred earned first-place honors for his photo essay about a Taylorsville 4-year-old with osteogenesis imperfecta. Ravell Call was awarded a first-place award for general news photography. Tom Smart received a first-place award in sport feature photography.
As a team, KSL NewsRadio was honored for a documentary piece on the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and its extended coverage of Susan Powell, a West Valley City mother who has been missing since 2009. The team also took home an award for "best radio newscast" and first-place honors in spot news.
Individually, KSL NewsRadio reporters collected nine awards. Randall Jeppesen received first-place awards for his sportswriting and use of multimedia. He was also honored for "best use of sound." Andrew Adams received two first-place awards for his sports and criminal justice reporting. Becky Bruce took top honors in business reporting.
KSL TV was awarded 10 first-place awards, including best TV newscast and best use of social media. Overall, the news station collected 23 awards.
Alex Cabrero's story about an aggressive windstorm in Huntsville earned him a first-place award in television spot news reporting. Jennifer Stagg took first place in the general news category. She also received first-place honors for her reporting on military issues and mental health court. Lori Prichard earned first-place awards in the education, business and government reporting categories.
Other honors included:
KSL Radio
Mary Richards — Second place, general feature reporting; second place, education reporting
KSL TV
KSL Team — Second place, spot news reporting
Alex Cabrero — Second place, "best TV reporter"; second place, general news reporting; third place, general news reporting; second place, military reporting; third place, military reporting
Carol Mikita — Second place, documentary reporting
Jennifer Stagg — Third place, "best TV reporter"; second place, personality profile
Lori Prichard — Second place, criminal justice reporting
Mike Anderson — Second place, general feature reporting; second place, multimedia journalism
Shara Park — Honorable mention, spot news reporting
Deseret News
Dennis Romboy — Second place, criminal justice reporting; honorable mention general news reporting
Jeffrey Allred — Second place, sports action photo
Sara Israelsen-Hartley — Third place, "best newspaper reporter"; third place, criminal justice reporting
Wendy Leonard — Third place, medical/science reporting
Tom Smart — Third place, feature photo
Amy Donaldson — Third place, sports column
Brian Nicholson — Third place, sports action photo
Jay Evensen — Honorable mention, opinion column
Lois M. Collins — Honorable mention, medical/science reporting
Mike Sorensen — Honorable mention, sports column