Out-of-state judges pick top finalists for Aynesworth Awards

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By Martha Tiller

The Press Club of Dallas honored 17 winners and an additional 10 finalists from throughout Texas Dec. 1 at the 2018 Hugh Aynesworth Awards for Texas Journalism.

The dinner and awards presentation was held at the Irving Convention Center. It was hosted by longtime WFAA TV investigative reporter Byron Harris. Named for veteran reporter and Press Club member Hugh Aynesworth — a four-time Pulitzer Prize finalist — the Aynesworth Awards honors Texas journalists’ work completed in 2017. 

“Tonight, we celebrate the best in Texas journalism,” Press Club President Paul Wahlstrom told the audience. “These are the most creative, hard-fought examples of what a true story can be.” 

Wahlstrom described the judges as “well-known journalists from the East Coast with no involvement in Texas journalism, so their deliberations were based on what they read and saw, not who they knew.”

Before the awards were announced, Aynesworth, who witnessed the assassination of John F. Kennedy Nov. 22, 1963, and all the subsequent events, answered questions from the audience. He was asked to recall his most vivid memory on that fateful afternoon. “I remember a man pointing up at a window in the Texas Schoolbook Depository,” Aynesworth said. “‘I saw him! I saw him with the gun,’ the man said to me. Later on, it was his description that the police used to capture Lee Harvey Oswald at the Texas Theater. I’ll never forget the look on that man’s face.”

Here is a list of winners and finalists of the 2018 Hugh Aynesworth Awards for Texas Journalism: 

Daily Newspapers:

Feature Reporting  

Frank L. Christlieb, The Dallas Morning News

“What Kind of Father,” June 15, 2017 

Finalist — Naomi Martin, The Dallas Morning News, 

“Speaking up for Kara” March 23, 2017

Investigative Reporting Cary Aspinwall, The Dallas Morning News

“What Happened to Tony Timpa?” Sep. 20, 2017

Sports Feature Reporting 

Michael Florek, The Dallas Morning News

“The Faith He Carries,” Sept. 27, 2017

Weekly Newspapers:

Feature Reporting  

Monte Walker, Howe Enterprise

“Two Howe Ladies Blessed to Survive Las Vegas Weekend,” Oct. 9, 2017

Television:

Investigative Reporting 

Charlotte Huffman and Mark Smith, WFAA

“Criminal Caretakers,” Nov. 16, 2017

Finalist 

“Pricey Perks”

Lori Brown, Vicki Chen, KDFW Channel 4, April 10, 2017

TV Feature Reporting  

Brian Curtis, KXAS

“Love and Loss: Kenny Goss Remembers George Michael,” Feb. 27, 2017

Finalist  

A Hero’s Past: Lost and Found

Courtney Friedman, KSAT TV 12, May 29, 2017

TV Spot News Reporting 

Patty Santos, KSAT TV 12

“Singing and praise. Then gunfire.” Nov. 6, 2017

Radio:

Investigative Reporting  

Courtney Collins and Jessica Diaz-Hurtado, KERA

“One Crisis Away/No Place to Go” 

Radio Feature Reporting 

Bill Zeeble and Stella M. Chavez, KERA

“The Changing Face of Schools,” March 8, 2017

Finalist 

“The Effort to Bring Back Vinyl Records”

Hady Mawajdeh, Art and Seek, KERA, Feb. 16, 2017

 Finalist  

“Building Houston’s Super School”

Reporter, Laura Isensee, Houston Public Media, Nov. 8, 2017

Radio Spot News Reporting  

David Brown, The Texas Standard 

“Vignettes From A Disaster: Galveston After Harvey,” Aug. 31, 2017

Finalist 

Reporter, Rachel Osier Lindley,

“In A Houston Emergency Room, It Was a Week Like No Other”

KERA, Sept. 2, 2017

Radio Criticism  

Jerome Weeks, KERA 

“Art & Seek,” Aug. 16, Sep. 14 and Oct. 25, 2017

Magazine:

Investigative Reporting  

Christopher Collins, The Texas Observer

“Death From Above,” April 17, 2017

Magazine Feature Reporting  

Skip Hollandsworth, Texas Monthly

“The Day The Fire Came,” July 2017

Magazine Feature Reporting Finalist

“The Leadership of Wilshire Baptist Church”

Reporter, Keri Mitchell, The Advocate, Nov. 28, 2017 

Digital News:

Investigative Reporting  

Shelby Allison-Hibbs, Katy Lemieux, Mark Lowry, Theater Jones

“Lee Trull Accused of Misconduct,” Dec. 5, 2017

Digital News Editorial Opinion  

Bethany Erickson, Candy’s Dirt

“And Now, the Hard Part of Righting Dallas’ Racial Wrongs Actually Begins,” Dec. 5, 2017

Digital News Criticism  

Mark Lowry, Theater Jones

“Outside the Lines – Water Tower Theater Hit the Wall,” Aug. 8, 2017

Public Service:  

The Dallas Morning News

Cary Aspinwall,“Women in Jail,” June 27 and Dec. 3, 2017

Public Service Finalist 

Candy’s Dirt 

“Dallas ISD’s Needs Won’t Disappear But You Can Help”

Bethany Erickson, columnist, Aug. 23, 2017 

Dallas Examiner 

“Monday Night Politics”

 Mollie Belt, publisher and editor, March 16, March 30, 2017 (and throughout the calendar year). 

The Press Club of Dallas is an organization of journalists and professional communicators in North Texas.