‘New Mexican’ staff win national awards for journalism work

Santa Fe New Mexican staffers recently were honored in a national journalism awards competition.

Daniel J. Chacón, Gabriela Campos, Inez Russell Gomez and a team headed by Brian Barker each won second-place honors at the Inland Press Association’s annual competition for newspapers with circulations of up to 49,999.

Deputy Managing Editor Barker and his team of designers and copy editors received a second-place award for front pages during a one-year period spanning parts of 2017 and 2018. The category was judged by the Medill School for Journalism at Northwestern University.

In the news photo contest, sponsored by the Media School at Indiana University, photojournalist Campos won second place in the picture story category for her work on quinceañeras in Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico.

Russell Gomez, the longtime head of the Opinion section at the newspaper, won a secondplace prize in the editorial excellence category, sponsored by the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Kansas.

Chacón, a general assignment and government reporter on the news desk, won second place in the individual/personality profile division for his story about Santa Fe police Officer Joshua McDermott, better known as “Officer Smiley,” and his friendly demeanor as he goes about his job. That contest was sponsored by the School of Journalism and Telecommunications at the University of Kentucky.

“We’re exceptionally proud of these honors; the Inland awards are prestigious in our craft,” said New Mexican Editor Phill Casaus. “But I know Brian, Gabriela, Inez and Daniel would say the real reward in journalism is the opportunity to tell stories about the community on a daily basis.”