February 2014 Best of the Month

Congratulations to Bryan Painter, who was selected Best Overall for February. In his nomination, News Director Robby rammell said Bryan is an outstanding writer and re!orter who handles our im!ortant weather beat. "is #eather Blog is very !o!ular on NewsO$.com. Bryan often blogs on wee%ends, late at night and early mornings && whenever the need, which is often because of O%lahoma's e(treme and un!redictable weather. )ven while on vacation last month, Bryan logged on and wor%ed from home more than *+ hours straight covering the snow and ice storm. In addition, Bryan writes the ,Of Character, stories that run each -unday, and he is our main news columnist with fre.uent /age * or second&front center!ieces. "is story !ac%ages always contain good art and videos as well as good re!orting and writing. Bryan also is a bac%u! line editor who hel!s each Friday edit u!coming wee%end stories. Bryan fre.uently s!ea%s to civic clubs and college 0ournalism classes and is an outstanding ,good ambassador, for O/1BCO. "e also is one of the most !rofessional and !leasant !eo!le to wor% with in the newsroom. Bryan is a %ey, de!endable em!loyee, who we sometimes ta%e for granted because he communicates so well and gets his wor% done without a lot of dram and fanfare. "e's an e(cellent communicator who deserves this honor. Others nominated2 Todd Schoenthaler odd has wor%ed tirelessly for years and ta%es a tremendous amount of !ride in ma%ing sure we have )3)R4 high school bas%etball score in the !a!er, said -!orts )ditor 5i%e -herman. 6It may not seem glamorous, but it7s something that means .uite a bit to a lot of !eo!le that !ic% u! our !a!er loo%ing to see their town7s score or their %id7s 8or grand%id7s9 name in the !a!er and how many !oints they scored. 6It7s im!ortant enough to odd that he wor%s the !hones ma%ing calls to athletic directors, coaches, !rinci!als, local store owners:;N4ON) that might be able to get him a score from that night7s game. "e7s develo!ed relationshi!s with !eo!le from all over the state that hel! him find scores. "e7s not afraid to wa%e u! a coach at midnight 0ust so we7ll have their score in the !a!er. "e7s done it for years and has never gotten the recognition he deserves.<

Carla Hinton Carla "inton masterfully communicates with sources and with her colleagues in wor%ing cross& de!artmentally to cover all the varied as!ects of the religion beat, said Features )ditor 5att /rice. -he wor%ed in February with -!orts, News, /resentation, /hoto, 3ideo and =ra!hics in ma%ing sure to fully develo! stories and ma%e sure they are !resented fairly and to the best of her ability. "er stories are !o!ular on social media, with her story on the integration of 5ercy being shared >?@ times on Faceboo%A her story of the 6-on of =od< movie being shared *BB timesA her story of $evin Durant and faith being shared C@C timesA and her story on some 1nited 5ethodists s!ea%ing out against a same&se( marriage ban being shared **DC times. #inners in other categories2

Best Beat or Breaking

e!s Story

Fro"# $obby Tra""ell o"ination# %ennifer Pal"er Familys attorney releases video in fatal incident at Moore movie theater E the center!iece story on Feb. +D.9 htt!2FFarchive.newso%.comFDefaultF-cri!tingF;rticle#in.as!G FromH;rchiveI-ourceH/ageI-%inHO%lahomanIBase"refHDO$F+J*BFJ+F+DI/ageKabel/rintH *;I)ntityIdH;rJJ*J+I3iew5odeH=IF

Best & e!s' Feature Story

Fro"# Mike Sher"an o"ination# %enni Carlson One son was the to! bas%etball !layer in the state a year earlier and had 0ust been %ic%ed off the O-1 team following his second brush with the law. he other son was the to! football recruit this year and was deciding between O1 and -)C !ower K-1, toying with both. -eemed li%e a good time to meet the high&!rofile mother of these two high&!rofile athletes. Lenni went beyond the !ublic image to tell readers what Dorshell Clar% is li%e. htt!2FFnewso%.comFarticleF>M+MD?*

Best S(ecialty Feature

Fro"# )en $ay"ond o"ination# )en $ay"ond For Blac% "istory 5onth, I !enned an analysis !iece called ,Blac% authors face new challenges., #ell, they're not the only ones. It was a challenging story for me to tell as a white man, s!ea%ing with authority about obstacles in the !ath of today's blac% authors && including the diluted voice brought about by wider cultural acce!tance. Clearly, racism is alive and well today, but it's more diffuse or better hidden, not overt. Now it's visible in the fact that the audience for blac% writings is dwindling and that blac% boo%stores are all but e(tinct. Boo%s by ;frican& ;merican authors aren't !o!ular abroad because the !articular e(!erience of being blac% and ;merican is too distinctA boo%s by ;frican writers, however, are gaining worldwide a!!eal. he easy route for me would've been to trot out the same old, familiar names that most !ublications do during blac% history month ... and to be fair, I did some of that, too. I tal%ed about Frederic%

Douglass and Ral!h )llison and 5aya ;ngelou, but I also focused on the righteously indignant Lesmyn #ard. Others may disagree, but for me, this was a brave story to tell. I'm !roud of it. htt!2FFnewso%.comFarticleF>M>DJ>M

Best Business story or Business Feature

Fro"# Phil *+Connor o"ination# ,da" )e"( ;dam investigated a shar! s!i%e in the !rice of !ro!ane that had some of the BJJ,JJJ O%lahomans who rely on the gas cutting their thermostats and throwing on e(tra layers of clothes. ;dam's re!ort got behind the cause of the s%yroc%eting costs and ca!tured the frustration of su!!liers and the anger of customers forced to deal with un!recedented !rice hi%es. htt!2FFnewso%.comFarticleF>M>*@JM

Best S(orts Story

Fro"# Mike Sher"an o"ination# -arnell Mayberry Darnell 5ayberry e(!lores the .uestion of why $evin Durant could very well be the most li%able !rofessional athlete in ;merica from all sides. -tory was !layed on *; the day of the NB; ;ll& -tar =ame. htt!2FFnewso%.comFo%lahoma&city&thunder&why&%evin&durant&could&be&the&most&li%able&athlete&in& !rofessional&s!ortsFarticleF>M>B++B

Best Colu"n.*(inion.First/Person
Fro"# )en $ay"ond o"ination# Heather 0arlick 4ou %now what an overweight, hairy, middle&aged guy li%e me hates to doG a%e !ictures of himself. But than%s to "eather #arlic% 8and her daughter9, I now %now how to !roduce the best !hotos should I ever decide to ta%e selfies ... which I won't. "eather's first&!erson column, ,)mbrace your selfie,, was ins!ired by her discovery of her daughter's collection of self&shot camera !hone images. Ki%e it or not, this is the selfie generation, and whether that grouse about her daughter's hobby, "eather decided to learn from her. he result was an engaging, light& hearted column that !rovided ste! by ste! suggestions for shooting good selfies while educating older readers about what selfies are and why they're so !o!ular. It's a great e(am!le of e(!laining and entertaining. htt!2FFnewso%.comFarticleF>M>@D*B

Best 1ideo
Fro"# -a2id Morris

o"ination# Todd Fraser ;s video !roduction manager, odd is not always on the front line of shooting video. "e is often handling studio and client !roductions and serving as our chief resource for technical .uestions and !roblems. But he shoots !lenty of videos too. In February, his video ca!ture of =ov. Fallin's -tate of the -tate s!eech was among our to! !erformers. 5ore im!ortantly, it's an e(am!le of doing an e(cellent 0ob no matter the assignment. htt!2FFbcove.meFgvb0bfmw

Best /hoto
Fro"# -oug Hoke o"ination# Ste2e 3ooch 3ery !ictures.ue, informative !hoto that ma%es the reader wonder&who would ride a bi%e in the snowG

Best -esign

Fro"# Mike Sher"an o"ination# Philli( Bae4a

Best 3ra(hic.5llustration

Fro"# Chris Schoelen o"ination# Todd Pendleton hese are awesome hand&drawn illustrations. hese %inds of drawings are greatly under& a!!reciated for the talent it ta%es to do them, the time it ta%es to com!lete and for the value they re!resent. here is NO #;4 we would !ay what a freelancer would charge to do this.

Best 5n/-e(th Story

Fro"# Phil *+Connor o"ination# %uliana )ee(ing Following the legaliNation of recreational mari0uana in Colorado and #ashington, Luliana loo%ed at O%lahoma's notoriously harsh mari0uana laws and found them to be largely toothless. Luliana showed how !rosecutors, in fact, rarely go after mari0uana smo%ers. he story had interesting facts and an enticing lead2 ,-mo%e a 0oint on your !orch in Denver and you face no legal conse.uence. =et caught doing it twice in O%lahoma City and the law says you could go to !rison for u! to *J years., htt!2FFnewso%.comFarticleF>M+M?D*

Best 0atchdog Story

Fro"# $obby Tra""ell o"ination# $andy 6llis /lay E Re!airs caused bridge crac%sA welding wea%ened beams in /urcell&Ke(ington s!an, !rom!ting its closure 8+&+J&*B9 htt!2FFarchive.newso%.comFDefaultF-cri!tingF;rticle#in.as!G FromH;rchiveI-ourceH/ageI-%inHO%lahomanIBase"refHDO$F+J*BFJ+F+JI/ageKabel/rintH *;I)ntityIdH;rJJ*J*I3iew5odeH=IF

Best Pro7ect
Fro"# $obby Tra""ell o"ination# %ennifer Pal"er Moore Theater Fatal Center!iece E Familys attorney releases video in fatal incident at Moore movie theater 8+&+D& *B9 htt!2FFarchive.newso%.comFDefaultF-cri!tingF;rticle#in.as!G FromH;rchiveI-ourceH/ageI-%inHO%lahomanIBase"refHDO$F+J*BFJ+F+DI/ageKabel/rintH *;I)ntityIdH;rJJ*J+I3iew5odeH=IF /age * E Report adds details to scuffle at theater 8+&+?&*B9 htt!2FFarchive.newso%.comFDefaultF-cri!tingF;rticle#in.as!G FromH;rchiveI-ourceH/ageI-%inHO%lahomanIBase"refHDO$F+J*BFJ+F+?I/ageKabel/rintH *;I)ntityIdH;rJJ*J*I3iew5odeH=IF ;t a glance2 What transpired in the video 8+&+?&*B9 htt!2FFarchive.newso%.comFDefaultF-cri!tingF;rticle#in.as!G FromH;rchiveI-ourceH/ageI-%inHO%lahomanIBase"refHDO$F+J*BFJ+F+DI/ageKabel/rintH +;I)ntityIdH;rJJ+JBI3iew5odeH=IF

Best Headline
Fro"# To" Mau(in o"ination# Felicia Murray BRO$)N LINK Closure of bridge bet een !urcell" Le#ington has residents as$ing %What are e going to do no G7 && By Felicia 5urray /age *a, all, Feb. B, +J*B && -tory about the Canadian River bridge closure affecting !eo!le in one small town.

S(ecial 6ffort to 5"(ro2e ,ccuracy

Fro"# 82ette 0alker o"ination# 6li icols )li .uietly sits at her des% catching mista%es and trying to im!rove accuracy. It !ays off every month, but she should be recogniNed for her efforts this month. Feb. +C, +J*B2 5iss!elled wordOReading the News cover !roof for Feb. +C, )li saw that 6manager< was s!elled 6manger< in a story and !ull .uote. -he told the designer and it was fi(ed for drive. Feb. +D, +J*B Rimming a business story for Feb. +D, )li saw 6/ittsburgh County.< -he %new the correct name for the O%lahoma county is 6/ittsburg< and changed it. Feb. *M, +J*B 5a! !roblem. /roofreading a metro section !age for Feb. *M, )li saw a ma! gra!hic with a story about 5idwest City schools had O$C schools on it instead and should have gone with a story on a different !age. -he !ointed it out to the designer.

S(ecial $ecognition
Fro"# %aclyn Cosgro2e o"ination# ick Trougakos I thought Nic% did a really great 0ob of !atiently e(!laining the new CCI to everyone. "e was available for any .uestions, and he didn't leave anyone hanging. No one li%es change, and Nic% was !atient with our !anic%ed moments of, ,I don't understand thingP,

S(ecial ote of $ecognition

Fro"# $obby Tra""ell o"ination# $andy 6llis

For his wor% at the state Ca!itol Bureau where he !roduced nine /age * stories in February E all of them in 6!lay !osition.< hese were in addition to several other stories he !roduced on various legislative issues that ran inside the !a!er.