SALT LAKE CITY — The Deseret News took home 18 first place awards — the most for any Utah news outlet — at Thursday's annual recognition of excellence in journalism, the Utah Society of Professional Journalists Headliners contest.
Deseret News, in a wide array of categories, placed in top-three spots 47 times. Among daily publications, the Division A category, the newspaper also led in the number of top spots with 32 placements.
Judges recognized DeseretNews.com as the best news-oriented website in the state.
The Deseret News staff won the best series category for five installments of its in-depth reporting on "The Hidden Plague: Utah's opioid epidemic."
Katie McKellar earned the top spot as Utah's best newspaper reporter for her continuing coverage stories on Gary Ott, the Salt Lake County recorder whose diminishing health raised questions about his ability to hold the office. Ott died in 2017 after a battle with Alzheimer's disease.
Deseret News prevailed in religion/values writing, winning all top three places. Kelsey Dallas' "The long road to a religious freedom victory for Sikhs in the U.S. Army" won first; Tad Walch's "MormonLeaks in the age of transparency" earned him second place; Matthew Brown's article "What would Martin Luther think of today's rates of divorce and cohabitation?" earned third.
Sports columnist Amy Donaldson swept the sports column category, earning all three top spots. Her 2017 analysis of "Cam Newton's sexist comments" and larger societal issues earned her first place. Her second place column: "Women's hockey team boycott," and third place: "Standing for the national anthem doesn't make us patriots."
Deseret News also took the first-place spot for sports non-deadline reporting with Jeff Call's piece, "15 years after leaving his war-torn homeland, BYU's Ghanwoloku hasn't forgotten African heritage."
Deseret News photographers placed in the top-three spots more than any other outlet Thursday night — nine times — with Ravell Call winning first place in both sports action photo and general news photo. Kristin Murphy took first for best feature photo.
Best front page design went to the Deseret News for Mary Archbold's design "Hard to breathe."
Art Raymond, Deseret News' resident technology/advanced industries reporter, earned first place for business/consumer writing with "Google Fiber installation moving at dial-up speeds in Salt Lake City." Ben Lockhart won third place in that category as well for "The damage is done."
In education writing, Marjorie Cortez won first place for "Wanted: Effective, veteran teachers willing to relocate to San Juan County."
Daphne Chen and McKenzie Romero took home first for criminal justice writing with their groundbreaking investigation "The new asylums: How Utah traps the mentally ill behind bars."
Chen also won in the personality profile category along with Jesse Hyde for their report: "Greg Hughes might be the most powerful man in Utah politics, if he could just stay out of trouble."
Lois M Collins won first place for military writing for her article "Would military exit oath be enough to prevent veteran suicide? Experts say no." Jasen Lee won second in the category for "Ephraim man works to bring smiles to fellow veterans' faces."
For minority issues, Gillian Friedman won first place for her article "Fears instead of dreams: A refugee family's struggle to survive in Utah."
In the review/criticism category, Lottie Peterson Johnson won the first place spot with her concert review "Symphony on the (red) rocks."
Michelle Garrett Bulsiewicz won first place for arts and entertainment writing for "Is Utah upholding Brigham Young's arts legacy?"
The rest of the Deseret News' 52 winners and honorable mentions are:
• Jesse Hyde and Eric Schulzke, second place, government: "The calculus behind Jason Chaffetz's sudden decision to walk away"
• Heather Tuttle, second place, graphics: "Get to know your heart"
• Jennifer Graham, second place, medical/science: "Why so many Utah men have melanoma"
• Katie McKellar, honorable mention, continuing coverage: "County doesn't know what to do as Gary Ott's mental capacity questioned"
• Sara Israelsen-Hartley, third place, education: "What's the right approach to sex ed curriculum?"
• Heidi Perry, second place, feature page design: "No. 6 retired"
• Ben Lockhart, third place, general news: "94-hour workweek"
• Katie McKellar, honorable mention, government: "I didn't feel safe: Mayor Ben McAdams describes secret nights on street, in shelter"
• Lee Benson, third place, humor/lifestyle column: "Chuck Norris visits former LDS missionary diagnosed with cancer"
• Ben Lockhart, third place, multimedia journalist: "Live-tweeting of Rep. Chaffetz's infamous town hall meeting"
• Deseret News, second place, best newspaper
• McKenzie Romero, honorable mention, multimedia journalist: "Retention hearing for teenager accused of attempting to kill 14-year-old girl"
• Lottie Peterson Johnson, honorable mention, review/criticism: "Concert review: At 68, Billy Joel proves he's still a 'big shot'"
• Sara Israelsen-Hartley, third place, series: "The Wage Gap"
• Eric Woodyard, second place, sports deadline reporting: "Damian Lillard, Donovan Mitchell put friendship aside"
• Doug Robinson, third place, sports non-deadline reporting: "How Utah double-amputee runner went from a novelty to a legend"
• Deseret News staff, second place, spot news: "President Trump's visit to Utah"
• Amy Donaldson, second place, best multimedia: "For boy with brain tumor, some races don't have a finish line"
• Allison Pond and Laura Seitz, third place, best multimedia: "Special report: How Utah became one refugee family's final chance at survival"
• Deseret News staff, second place, best use of news-oriented social media
• Spenser Heaps, third place, best photographer
• Laura Seitz, honorable mention, best photographer
• Kristin Murphy, first place, feature photo: "Red shoes"
• Laura Seitz, second place, feature photo: "Match day emotions"
• Ravell Call, first place, general news photo: "Dental distractions"
• Jeffrey D Allred, second place, photo essay: "Hurricane Harvey"
• Laura Seitz, third place, photo essay: "Refugee family adjusts to life in America"
• Ravell Call, first place, sports action photo: "State swim meet"
• Jeffrey D. Allred, second place, sports action photo: "Bucked"
• Ravell Call, third place, spot news photo: "Plane crash"
• Spenser Heaps, second place, videography feature: "Hell's Backbone Grill"