Capital Gazette editor is named the Bradlee Editor of the Year
The National Press Foundation has named the editor of the Capital Gazette newspapers, Rick Hutzell, as its Benjamin C. Bradlee Editor of the Year.
Hutzell received the award for leading his newsroom through and beyond a mass shooting in the Capital Gazette offices. He will be honored at the foundation’s annual journalism awards dinner Feb. 13, 2019.
A gunman entered the Capital Gazette newsroom June 28 and killed John McNamara, Wendi Winters, Rebecca Smith, Gerald Fischman and Rob Hiaasen. Despite the attack, the paper did not miss an edition.
“We saw courage in the face of unimaginable tragedy in the Capital Gazette editor and his staff,” National Press Foundation judges said in a statement. “As pledged, they put out a ‘damn paper’ the next day, and every day since in service to their community. It underscores the importance of local newspapers and the unbreakable bond with their communities.”
The Capital Gazette newsroom is responsible for the Capital, the Maryland Gazette and capitalgazette.com. It is part of the Baltimore Sun Media Group.
Though he is the recipient of the award, Hutzell said he shares the honor with his colleagues. “It’s an affirmation of the fact that the people in this newsroom are in this together and people recognize that,” he said.
Hutzell said he has tried to take lessons from his fallen coworkers in the days since the attack. He tries to edit more like Hiaasen; contemplate what Fischman would have said or written in an editorial; consider how Winters would approach a story; reflect on how McNamara would have covered a council meeting; and think about how Smith would greet members of the public.
“This award and any recognition we get from the public ... in the days following June 28 are bittersweet,” Hutzell said. “I’d rather have my friends back.”
An Annapolis resident, Hutzell started with the company in1987 and has worked as a reporter, editor and columnist. He was named editor of the papers in 2015. Rick Hutzell