Tuesday, May 5, 2009 | 12:09 p.m.
Alexandra Berzon and the staff of the Las Vegas Sun swept the top newswriting prizes in the Associated Press California/Nevada Newswriting and Photo Contest, celebrating the best print journalism of 2008 by AP member newspapers in the two states.
Berzon and the Sun were honored for a series of stories that exposed a high death rate among construction workers on the Las Vegas Strip and how lax safety rules and the rush to build quickly contributed to the injury and death rate. The newspaper reported that 12 workers had died within 18 months on the Strip in the middle of a $32 billion building boom.
The series won AP’s Mark Twain best-of-show award, the Sunlight Freedom of Information Award, co-sponsored and judged by the California First Amendment Coalition, and the Fairbanks Public Service Award.
The CFAC judges praised the series “for the willingness to take on entrenched interests; for the successful use of FOI laws to obtain crucial records; for the effective use of online presentation and interactive features; and for obtaining stunning results: changes in safety practices and enforcement that appear to have made these jobs far safer.”
The Sun’s effort also won this year’s Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.
In the AP Photo contest, Karl Mondon of the Contra Costa Times won the Mark Twain Award for Woman in Flames, the dramatic shot of a police officer helping a badly burned woman who had just fled in flames from a burning house.
The judges called it a "unanimous first choice in a category with a lot of strong photos."
A panel of AP member editors in Michigan chose first- and second-place winners for all but the Sunlight Award from hundreds of entries in 59 categories across four circulation divisions of the annual competition.
Winners of the Mark Twain awards for newswriting and photos receive $1,000 each; the winner of the Sunlight is awarded $500; and all first-place winners in the divisional categories receive a $150 prize. The awards will be delivered to recipients in upcoming weeks.
Here’s the list of Sun winners:
NEWSWRITING COMPETITION
ALL DIVISIONS
Mark Twain Sweepstakes Award for Newswriting
1. Alexandra Berzon and Staff / Las Vegas Sun / Construction Deaths.
Sunlight Freedom of Information Award
1. Alexandra Berzon and Staff / Las Vegas Sun / Construction Deaths.
DIVISION II (circulation 75,000 to 199,999)
Spot News Coverage
1. Marshall Allen and David McGrath Schwartz / Clinic Procedures Put Thousands at Risk.
Feature Writing
1. Emily Green / Quenching Las Vegas Thirst.
Fairbanks Public Service
1. Alexandra Berzon and Staff / Construction Deaths.
Local Column
1. Jon Ralston / How Palin’s Speech Divides America.
Investigative Reporting
1. Alexandra Berzon / Construction Deaths.
2. Marshall Allen and Alex Richards / The New Addiction.
Portrait
1. Tiffany Brown / Youngest Clown.
Sports Writing
1. Ron Kantowski / Old Ball Pro's Story Ends Humbly.
