‘New Mexican’ staff wins awards across categories

Teams from the Santa Fe New Mexican’s digital and design desks, plus longtime reporter Daniel J. Chacón and photographer Luis Sánchez Saturno, earned first-place honors at the 2019 Inland Press Association national contest.

The newspaper won awards both in its circulation class — 10,000 to 49,000 — and in categories without circulation divisions.

“We are very proud of the reporters, editors and photographers who work at The New Mexican because their talents are mirrored by their commitment to telling the story of our state,” said Editor Phill Casaus. “I think our winners would tell you that there are many stories, not just the award-winners, that matter deeply. We chase those every day.”

Chacón, who covers city and county government for the newspaper, won first place in the national contest for personality/ individual profile category, for “Finding Tommy,” an exhaustive look into the life of a homeless veteran who died in front of a Santa Fe coffee shop on a cold winter morning.

Sánchez Saturno, also a newsroom veteran, won first place for his photo of a locker room celebration during Santa Fe High School’s run to the final during the state boys’ basketball tournament.

Led by Digital Enterprise Editor Henry M. Lopez, The New Mexican won first place nationally for digital innovation in its interactive coverage of the Chimayó pilgrimage.

The New Mexican also won first place for its front pages. The design team is headed by Deputy Managing Editor Brian Barker.

In addition, the newspaper won a slew of second- and thirdplace awards.

Second-place winners included the photo and digital teams for multimedia storytelling and reporter Robert Nott, who profiled Santa Fe High Principal Carl Marano early in the 2019-19 school year.

Third-place awards went to the newspaper’s digital team for general excellence and to reporter Rebecca Moss, whose investigation into the death of a former Los Alamos National Laboratory worker — “The Life and Death of Chad Walde” — was part of the newspaper’s 2018 partnership with noted national journalism nonprofit ProPublica.

Inez Gomez Russell, the newspaper’s opinion page editor, won third place for editorial excellence.