The Capital honored with journalism awards
Staff lauded for news reporting, sports coverage, photojournalism and opinion writing
Capital Gazette staff members were honored this week with journalism awards for excellence in reporting, photography, opinion writing and design.
Staff members, who write, photograph and design for The Capital, the Maryland Gazette, the Bowie Blade-News and other publications, received multiple awards during the Maryland, Delaware, D.C. Press Association 2020 awards ceremony. The awards were presented online in a series of announcements starting Monday and culminating Friday.
Reporter Brooks Dubose won first place awards in local government reporting for his story on Mayor Gavin Buckley’s plans for a crosstown bike trail, and for continuing coverage of turmoil at Maryland Legal Aid.
Veteran sportswriter Bill Wagner won first place for his sports column on Black hall of fame members frustrated by racial climate at Severn School, and his online blog commenting on motorsports star Travis Pastrana’s jump over Ego Alley in Annapolis.
Former reporter Alex Mann, now at the Baltimore Sun, won first place in the Coronavirus in Community special category for his story on an Anne Arundel County police
navirus in Community special category for his story on an Anne Arundel County police officer who works in crisis response coming down with COVID-19.
“Coming to collect,” the year-long investigation of public housing rent policies by Danielle Ohl in partnership with ProPublica, won second place for investigative reporting and first place for newsdriven art or Illustrations. Ohl shared the awards with ProPublica staff members Talia Buford, Beena Raghavendran and Nate Kitch.
Other awards went to:
Breaking News, first place: Reporter Lilly Price for a story on the EF-1 tornado that struck Annapolis in 2020.
General News Story, second place: Heather Mongillo, the Report for America reporter at The Capital, for a story on sinking morale among Naval Academy midshipmen during the pandemic.
Continuing Coverage, second place: Mongillo for her stories on a midshipman’s racist tweets and the consequences.
Business Reporting, second place: Sports reporter Kathryn Fominykh for her story on coronavirus shutting down Maryland’s horse industry.
Education Reporting, second place: Former reporter Naomi Harris for her story on the changed grading policy in Anne Arundel County Public Schools.
Arts/Entertainment Reporting, first place: Former reporter Olivia Sanchez for her story on a nightly solo trombone performance on Prince George Street.
Religion Reporting, first place: Reporter Donovan Conaway for his story about online worship services during the pandemic.
Local Column (Critical Thinking), First Place: Ohl won for her opinion column on Robert Eades, the late Annapolis civic activist.
Feature Story (Non-Profile), second place: Brooks Dubose for his story on a Robinwood family displaced by mold to a smaller apartment.
Series, first place: Former reporter Selene San Felice for her exploration of the impact of sea-level rise around Anne Arundel County.
Sports Story, second place: Fominykh for her coverage of Northeast High boys basketball upsets over Annapolis.
Sports Feature Story, second place: Wagner for his look back at the 1943 ArmyNavy game played at West Point.
General News Photo, first place: Photojournalist Brian Krista for his photograph of a protest against racism and police brutality.
Feature Photo, first place: Krista for a photo titled Reflections.
Feature Photo, second place: Photojournalist Paul Gillespie for his picture of a drive-thru confessional.
Best Photo Gallery, second place: Photo editor Jeffrey Bill, Gillespie and Krista won for their collection of 2020 Pictures of the Year.
Sports Photo (Sports Action), first place: Brian Krista for “Golden girl.”
Sports Photo (Sports Action), second place: Gillespie for coverage of the Naval Academy brigade boxing championship.
Sports Photo (Feature), First Place: Gillespie for Slam Dunk.
Feature Page Design, second place: Garrett Evans and Paul Gillespie.
Sports Page Design, first place: The Capital staff.
James S. Keat Freedom of Information Award, honorable mention: Mann’s critical series of news stories exposing a significant flaw in the Maryland Electronic Court System that allowed documents to be sealed without review. The entry included editorials written by the Capital Gazette Editorial Board.
The Capital is part of Baltimore Sun Media.