NLGJA Announces 2016 Excellence in Journalism Award Winners and Honorees

Congrats to all the winners of this year's NLGJA Excellence in Journalism awards, including my pals Tim Teeman and Ben Ryan!  For the uninitiated, the awards were established in 1993 to foster, recognize and reward excellence in journalism on issues related to the LGBTQ community.

“NLGJA saw unprecedented growth in nominations for the Excellence in Journalism awards during our 25th Anniversary last year,” said NLGJA Awards Chair April Hunt. “This year, we expanded the categories to more than double last year’s offerings, continuing to award small and mid-sized publications, and saw exponential growth in nominated work.”

The 2016 NLGJA Journalist of the Year is Dominic Holden, National LGBT Reporter for BuzzFeed. “Holden presents a really strong mix of thoughtful trans stories, a good take on familiar subject matter, some really strong characters and good depth,” wrote one judge. Holden additionally took second place in Newswriting (Non-daily) for Why Are Black Transgender Women Getting Killed in Detroit? This year’s Sarah Pettit LGBT Journalist of the Year Award goes to Lucas Grindley, Senior Vice President and Editorial Director for Here Media. “Impressive work,” one judge praised. “Grindley has smart and thoughtful treatment of chosen topics.”

The complete list of award winners follows: 

Special recognition awards:

Journalist of the Year Award

First: Dominic Holden, BuzzFeed News
Second: Tim Teeman, The Daily Beast

Sarah Pettit Memorial Award for the LGBT Journalist of the Year

First: Lucas Grindley, Here Media
Second: Erik Hall, OutSports.com

The Al Neuharth Award for Innovation in Investigative Journalism

First: Jim Burress for “Fulton County Doesn’t Spend, Loses HIV Prevention Money,” 90.1 WABE 

Print/online awards:

Excellence in Book Writing

First: Mark Segal for “And Then I Danced: Traveling the Road to LGBT Equality,” Akashic Books

Excellence in Feature Writing Award

First: Berlin Sylvestre for “Damascus to Denver: Exodus From Syria,” OUT FRONT Magazine

Excellence in Feature Writing Award (Non-daily)

First: Michael Lindenberger for “The Vanishing Terrain of Gay America,” The New Republic
Second: Tre’vell Anderson for “Jewel’s Catch One Disco’s Demise Marks Era’s End for L.A.’s Gay Blacks,” L.A. Times

Excellence in News Writing Award

First: Andy Birkey for “Dozens of Christian Schools Win Title IX Waivers to Ban LGBT Students,” The Column
Second: Daniel Burke for “Exclusive: Pope Held Private Meeting with Same-Sex Couple in U.S.,” CNN

Excellence in News Writing Award (Non-daily)

First: Gretchen Rachel Hammond for “LGBT Immigrants Still Face Hurdles,” Windy City Times
Second: Dominic Holden for “Why Are Black Transgender Women Getting Killed in Detroit?” BuzzFeed News

Excellence in Photojournalism Award

First: Preston Gannaway for “Soccer on the Streets,” ESPN
Second: Bradley Secker for “A Gay Refugee Sold His Kidney to Escape Iran,” BuzzFeed News

Excellence in Profile Writing Award

First: The Advocate Staff for “40 Under 40: Intersectional Voices,” The Advocate
Second: Tim Teeman for “Jane Clementi: I Almost Killed Myself After Tyler’s Suicide–This Is How I Survived,” The Daily Beast

Excellence in Sports Writing Award

First: Erik Hall for “Uncle’s Death Motivates Gay College Athlete to Create Change,” OutSports.com

Excellence in Student Journalism Award

First: Nicole Wiesenthal for “Collection,” South Florida Gay News
Second: Earl Jordan Lalata for “The Right to Privacy,” Xpress Magazine

Excellence in Travel Writing Award

First: Manny Velasquez-Paredes for “The Great Family Escape: The Lake George Adventure,” Connextions Magazine 

Digital awards:

Excellence in Blogging

First: Mark S. King for “My Fabulous Disease,” My Fabulous Disease
Second: Pamela Valentine for “Affirmed Mom of a Transgender Child,” Chicagonow.com

Excellence in a Digital Edition Award

First: Mark Calvey, Krystal Peak, Jim Gardner, Chris Rauber and Ron Leuty for “Business of Pride Special Edition,” San Francisco Business Times

Excellence in Digital Video Award

First: Samantha Stark for “How a Love Story Triumphed in Court,” NYTimes.com

Excellence in Multimedia Award

First: German Lopez and Joe Posner for “Trans Lives,” Vox.com

Excellence in Online Journalism Award

First: Shannon Keating, Lauren Morrell Tabak, Marcie Bianco, Sarah Fonseca and Lisa C. Moore for “Lesbian History Week,” Buzzfeed
Second: Eric Walter for “Speak Easy Forums: LGBT Priorities Beyond Marriage,” Newsworks.org

Excellence in Social Media Award

First: The Advocate Staff for “Day in LGBT America,” The Advocate 

Editorial awards:

Excellence in Column Writing

First: Maxwell Heller for “Columns of Miz Cracker,” Slate
Second: Heidi Stevens for “Balancing Act with Heidi Stevens,” Chicago Tribune

Excellence in Opinion/Editorial Writing Award

First: Neal Broverman for “I Met My Best Friend on Grindr,” The Advocate
Second: Mark S. King for “Surviving Life Itself,” POZ 

Broadcast awards:

Excellence in Documentary Award:

First: Simon Kilmurry, Chris Hastings, Carmen L. Vicencio and PJ Raval for “America ReFramed: Before You Know It,” World Channel

Excellence in Local Television Award

First: Darren Perron for “Powerful Transformation,” WCAX-TV

Excellence in Network Television Award

First: Dax Tejera, Eric Herbst, Lindsay Garfield, Alcione Gonzalez and Douglas Forte for
“America With Jorge Ramos: 101 Gay Weddings,” Fusion
Second: Jay Kernis for “Sunday Morning: In His Name,” CBS News

Excellence in Podcasts Award

First Place: Ken Schneck for “This Show is So Gay,” This Show is So Gay

Excellence in Radio Award

First: David Weinberg for “Grace of the Sea,” KCRW 89.9FM
Second: Jim Burress for “Fulton County Doesn’t Spend, Loses HIV Prevention Money,” WABE-FM and WABE.org 

Coverage awards:

Excellence in Bisexual Coverage Award

First: Colin Murphy for “Vincent Price’s Daughter Confirms Father’s Bisexuality,” #Boom Magazine

Excellence in Health or Fitness Coverage:

First: Mary Emily O’Hara for “The Transgender Healthcare Revolution is Here With Two New Startups,” The Daily Dot
Second: Benjamin Ryan for “When Can We Expect PrEP 2.0?,” POZ

Excellence in HIV/AIDS Coverage Award

First: Heather Boerner for “Ongoing HIV Prevention/Treatment Coverage,” The Daily Beast/TheBody.com
Second: Daniel Villarreal and Topher Williams for “‘Trust Him?’: Why Are The Images Debating PrEP Use So Consistently Shitty?” UnicornBooty.com

Excellence in Transgender Coverage Award

First: Dylan Edwards for “Voices: How I Told My Grandma I’m Transgender,” Fusion
Second: Sunnivie Brydum and Mitch Kellaway for “This Black Trans Man Is in Prison for Killing His Rapist,” The Advocate

Learn more HERE.