The Bee wins multiple first-place awards from California News Publishers Association
The Modesto Bee took home 19 awards in a statewide journalism competition, including five first-place honors, from the California News Publishers Association.
Reporter Marijke Rowland finished first in three categories — coverage of the COVID-19 fallout, profile story and column writing — and fourth place in in-depth reporting.
Other first-place finishers were Erin Tracy in enterprise reporting and ChrisAnna Mink in COVID-19 health reporting.
In COVID fallout, Rowland shared the honor with reporters Kristin Lam, Kevin Valine and Kristina Karisch for their reporting on the pandemic’s impact on local businesses. Their coverage focused on everything from essential workers, the shutdown’s impact on owners and employees, the allocation of the Paycheck Protection Program, the future of office space and even the food chain.
Rowland’s profile story was on Lindsay Pearce, the Modestan who scored a starring role on Broadway in “Wicked.”
Tracy won for her heartbreaking story on Ayesha Castro, a young victim of human trafficking. Mink won for a story on a Los Banos COVID-19 victim whose life was saved, in part, by Sutter Health’s e-ICU system.
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Opinions Editor Garth Stapley placed second in three categories – writing, editorial comment and column writing. His entries included pieces on Congressional candidate Ted Howze, former Modesto Mayor Ted Brandvold, the news of Stanislaus County’s first death tied to COVID-19 and the militia’s presence at a rumored Black Lives Matter rally in Oakdale.
Stories by Ken Carlson, Lam and Stapley on the COVID outbreak in the Latino community took third for health reporting. It included pieces on the hard-hit 95351 ZIP code, the overall impact on Latinos and the need for a mobile testing site in south Modesto.
Photographer Andy Alfaro won third place in the news photo category for a photo of a woman disinfecting a church pew near a statue of the Virgin Mary appearing to offer a comforting glance from above and fourth place for a wildfire photo from the SCU Lightning Complex fire in August.
Other fourth-place winners included Rowland and Karisch for in-depth reporting on a data-driven story on PPP loans, Julian A. Lopez for sports feature on girls wrestling, Lam for a pandemic profile on the last days of a woman who died in a Turlock nursing home and Mink on youth and education coverage focusing on teen suicide.
Mink also finished fifth in enterprise reporting for her two-part series on food insecurity. Valine took fifth in local election coverage for his story on Ted Howze’s place of residence and Deke Farrow fifth in breaking news for his story on an 80-year-old Modestan who saved a man’s life.
The Bee was competing in the 15,000-50,000 circulation category that includes The Fresno Bee, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat and the Los Angeles Daily News, among other organizations throughout the state.
Earlier this month, The Bee’s journalists captured a 2021 George F. Gruner Award for public service with their coverage of COVID-19’s impact on the area’s Latino community.
In all, The Bee won Gruners in four categories and secured an honorable mention in the contest honoring the best of journalism in the Central Valley in 2020.
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This story was originally published May 21, 2021 at 7:24 AM.