Capital Gazette, Sun honored by National Press Club

WASHINGTON – The National Press Club honored Capital Gazette and The Baltimore Sun Thursday for its continuing coverage of the June 28 newsroom shooting that left five staff members dead in Annapolis.

Andrea Edney, the 111th president of the organization, presented the President’s Award to members of both publications during the club's 45th Annual Journalism Awards Dinner. Edney said the organization wanted to honor the valor the newspapers demonstrated in reporting the fatal shooting first on social media as it was occurring, quickly posting on its websites and then publishing a print edition of The Capital the next day.

“There has been talk of valor or courage,” said Rick Hutzell, editor of Capital Gazette. “We just showed up and did our job.”

Hutzell thanked the scores of journalists, many of them former staff members at The and The who have stepped forward to supplement the staff in the aftermath of the shooting. The news organization has not missed a single print edition after the attack that killed almost half its newsroom staff.

Gerald Fischman, Rob Hiaasen, John McNamara, Rebecca Smith and Wendi Winters were killed in the assault. Two other staff members — Rachael Pacella and Janel Cooley — were injured while trying to escape during the shooting.

Pacella was one of several newsroom employees who attended the awards ceremony, among them reporter Selene San Felice. San Felice was also in the newsroom during the attack.

They were joined by Andrea Chamblee, the wife of John McNamara. The audience of journalists gave her a standing ovation when she was introduced.

Hutzell, in accepting the award for the staff, said that many people have tried to make a symbol of the violence in his newsroom and the work his staff has done since then.

“We are a symbol of our community, and I want to thank our community for having our back every day,” Hutzell said.