Tennessean receives a top honor for religion coverage across state and the South
The Tennessean on Monday received a top honor for its coverage of religion across Tennessee and the South.
The Religion News Association honored The Tennessean and religion reporter Liam Adams during a ceremony at Columbia Journalism School in New York for coverage on topics ranging from workplace religions freedom, sexual abuse within the Southern Baptist Convention and the power of Christian evangelism in Middle Tennessee.
Adams won first place in the small to mid-sized paper category for his co-coverage with former reporter Cole Villena on the rise of Christian evangelical influence in Williamson County, as well as his coverage on a controversial “righteous living” policy at local personal finance powerhouse Ramsey Solutions and the experiences of a survivor of childhood sexual abuse at the hands of a former Southern Baptist youth pastor.
Adams’ coverage of the sexual abuse by former youth pastor in Kentucky led to the man’s subsequent resignation from — and the later closure of — the Tullahoma church he moved on to pastor.
The November ceremony spanned 13 categories of publications, including print, broadcast, online media and nonfiction books.
The full list of awardees include:
Religion Story of the Year
1st Place - Elizabeth Dias, The New York Times
2nd Place - Michael Rezendes, The Associated Press
3rd Place - Sonia Paul, Wired
Renner Award for Enterprise and Serials
1st Place - Ruth Graham and Elizabeth Dias, The New York Times
2nd Place - Roxanne Stone, Katelyn Beaty and Jonathan Woodward, Religion News Service
3rd Place - Sonia Paul, Wired
Supple Award for Feature Writing
1st Place - Sonia Paul, Vox and Wired
2nd Place - Deepa Bharath, The Associated Press
3rd Place - Sam Kestenbaum, Rolling Stone, The Washington Post and The Land Magazine
Newspapers: Large and Wire Services
1st Place - Eliza Shapiro and Brian M. Rosenthal, The New York Times
2nd Place - Ruth Graham, The New York Times
3rd Place - Deepa Bharath, The Associated Press
Newspapers: Small and Midsized
1st Place - Liam Adams, The Tennessean
2nd Place - Tamarra Kemsley, The Salt Lake Tribune
Online-Only News Outlets
1st Place - Mira Fox, The Forward
2nd Place - Barry Yeoman, The Assembly
3rd Place - Luke Tress, Times of Israel
Documentary
1st Place - Valeria Perasso and Georgina Pearce, BBC/BBC 100 Women
Television: National and Local
1st Place - Unity Productions Foundation, "The Great American Muslim Road Trip," PBS
Photography: Single Photo
1st Place - Petros Giannakouris, The Associated Press
Photography: Gallery
1st Place - Jessie Wardarski, The Associated Press
Multimedia: Analysis
1st Place - Bobby Ross Jr., The Associated Press
2nd Place - Jack M. Jenkins, Rolling Stone and Religion News Service
3rd Place - Kelsey Dallas, Deseret News
Multimedia: Commentary or Blog
1st Place - Menachem Wecker, National Catholic Reporter
2nd Place - Celia Viggo Wexler, Salon and NBC
3rd Place - Thomas J. Reese, Religion News Service
Magazine, Overall Excellence
1st Place - The Revealer, "Special Issue: Trans Lives and Religion"
2nd Place - Deseret Magazine, "The State of Faith"
Magazine and Non-daily Newspapers
1st Place - Erik Tryggestad, The Christian Chronicle
2nd Place - Katie Collins Scott, National Catholic Reporter
3rd Place - Noah Philips, Moment
Broadcast: Radio
1st Place - Deena Prichep, NPR
2nd Place - Walter Ratliff, The Associated Press
Broadcast: Podcast
1st Place - Hana Baba, the Stoop from Radiotopia and PRX, "Pious and Pleasured"
2nd Place - Leah Henoch, Katie Henoch, Emily Martinez, Sarah Ventre, Rebecca Ross, Matt Shaer and Sydney Fleischmann, Campside Media and Sony Music Entertainment, “Witnessed: Mystic Mother"
Book: Nonfiction
1st Place - Harley Rustad, Lost in the Valley of Death
Have a story to tell? Reach Angele Latham by email at alatham@gannett.com, by phone at 931-623-9485, or follow her on Twitter at @angele_latham
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessean receives top honor for religion coverage across the South
