Review-Journal wins 8 awards in Battle Born contest
The Las Vegas Review-Journal won several awards in the 2021 Battle Born Journalism Awards.
It was the first year that the Society of Professional Journalists’ Las Vegas chapter had held the awards, said Wesley Juhl, president of the chapter.
“There’s just no denying that recognition is a facet of the journalism profession,” Juhl said. “It can be pretty important for a journalist’s career to be able to describe themselves as ‘award-winning,’ right? So I thought another opportunity for that kind of recognition would be really beneficial for our journalism community.”
The chapter hopes to expand on the awards in the future, Juhl said, by possibly holding an awards gala. SPJ Las Vegas also has a scholarship program for young journalists in Southern Nevada.
Review-Journal staffers won numerous awards across the board. Reporter Briana Erickson won the human rights reporting first place prize for her stories on COVID-19 and nursing homes, and former reporter and assistant city editor Rachel Crosby won first place in narrative nonfiction for her story on the Alpine Fire.
The Review-Journal was previously recognized with Sigma Delta Chi, Best of the West and Nevada Press Association awards for its breaking news coverage of the fire. The newspaper also won a National Headliner Award and a Best of the West award for follow-up investigative stories.
Reporter Eli Segall earned second place honors for beat reporting, while Washington correspondent Gary Martin earned second place for election reporting, reporter Arthur Kane won second place for human rights reporting and reporter Jason Bracelin earned second place for narrative nonfiction. Bracelin also took second place for 2020 topical storytelling, COVID-19.
Visual journalist Ben Hager took third place for web presentation, and reporter Rio Lacanlale took third place for beat reporting.
The newsroom was honored with second place for “Innovator of the Year.”
“We appreciate all the work put in by the local chapter of SPJ to launch a new statewide contest,” Review-Journal Executive Editor Glenn Cook said. “And we are grateful that the contest’s judges chose to honor some of the very best work produced by the Review-Journal’s sensational staff last year.”
Contact Jonah Dylan at jdylan@reviewjournal.com. Follow @TheJonahDylan on Twitter.
