c. 1996 Religion News Service
PHOENIX (RNS)-Religion News Service won three top journalistic honors Friday (April 12) from the Associated Church Press, a professional organization for the religious press.
RNS National Correspondent David E. Anderson won first place in the news service category for a piece on the emergence of land mines as a global moral issue.
National Correspondent Adelle M. Banks won first place in the convention/meeting coverage category for her article on the Southern Baptist Convention’s vote to apologize for Baptists’ past defense of slavery and to acknowledge continuing racism in the denomination.
RNS publisher Dale Hanson Bourke won top prize in the theme issue/series category for three columns she wrote on the courage of women caught up in the war in the former Yugoslavia.
In addition, Banks and RNS National Correspondent Ira Rifkin won second place in the in-depth coverage by newspapers or news services for their stories about the Million Man March in Washington, a 1995 gathering of black men led by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
Jay Cormier of The Episcopal Times of the diocese of Boston won first place in the newspaper category for a news story on the healing process in the wake of the suicide of a diocesan bishop.
Salt of the Earth, a Roman Catholic magazine published in Chicago that focuses on social-justice issues, won the ACP’s award of excellence in the topic-of-the-year category. The article on this year’s topic-poverty- was titled”The Four Biggest Lies About Poverty.” Episcopal Life, the New York-published newspaper of the Episcopal Church, was named the best national or international religious newspaper in 1995.
U.S. Catholic, published by the Claretian Fathers in Chicago was named the best denominational, general interest magazine. Second Opinion, a now-defunct journal of the Park Ridge Center for Health, Faith and Ethics in Chicago, was named best special-interest magazine.
Overall, the United Church Observer in Toronto won 12 awards. The Christian Century, an independent ecumenical journal based in Chicago, took 11 awards. Sojourners, an evangelical magazine published in Washington won 10.
Other top awards included:
-Regional newspaper: The Mirror, published in Springfield, Mo.
-General interest magazine, non-denominational: Trinity News, published in New York.
-Newsletter: Kanuga News, published in Hendersonville, N.C.
-Editorial or opinion piece: The Record, published in Detroit.
The Associated Church Press is a professional organization of some 200 Protestant and Roman Catholic publications.
MJP END RNS
