COLUMBUS — Sidney Daily News Chief Photographer Luke Gronneberg and Localife Editor Patricia Ann Speelman were honored Sunday by the Ohio Associated Press Media Editors.
The association presented awards for outstanding journalism during 2015 in print and broadcast fields at a luncheon at the Hilton Columbus.
Gronneberg earned a third place award for a news photograph. Speelman won a second place award for feature writing.
Gronneberg’s winning photo, “Rain Drenches Shelby County,” pictured a family canoing through their flooded back yard. Speelman’s award was for a quartet of stories, “Cuba: expectations,” “Snackt ji platt?,” “A Cinderella story comes true” and “What happens to fair ‘poop.’”
The judges said of Speelman’s entry, “One way to this judge’s heart: Find topics I won’t read anywhere else and inform me about it. Submit a story about what happens to poop after the county fair? Go on …”
Of Gronneberg’s photo, they said, “Really puts the flooding into perspective and what the family is going through.”
Seventy-two daily newspapers submitted 2,239 entries in the contest, which featured news and sports stories, features, editorials, columns, graphics and photos from 2015.
The Sidney entries, in Division II for newspapers with circulations of 8,000 to 12,999, were judged by the staffs of the San Angelo (Texas) Standard-Times and the Niagara-Gazette of Niagara Falls, New York.
The Associated Press is a not-for-profit news cooperative representing 1,400 newspapers and 5,000 broadcast stations in the United States. Members of AP include 85 daily newspapers in Ohio.
Representing the Civitas Media corporation at the event were Nickolas Monico, regional director of Ohio newspapers, and David Fong, group sports editor.
Other Civitas papers garnering awards included the Lima Daily News, the (Hillsboro) Times-Gazette, the Portsmouth Daily Times and the Troy Daily News.
Luke Gronneberg | Sidney Daily News