Norfolk and New Braunfels Papers Take Top Carmage Walls Commentary Awards

The winners in the Carmage Walls Commentary Prize competition were announced Monday during SNPA's News Industry Summit. Awards were announced by Lissa Walls Vahldiek, vice president and chief operating officer of Southern Newspapers, Inc., Houston, Texas, and daughter of the late Benjamin Carmage Walls, for whom these awards are named.

First-place honors were presented to:

Over 50,000 circulation:

• Roger Chesley, local columnist for The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va. He wrote about the horrific death of a homeless man, Michael Knockett. Read the entry

Under 50,000 circulation:

• Doug Toney, publisher, and Autumn Phillips, managing editor, New Braunfels (Texas) Herald-Zeitung. Their series of editorials and columns served as the catalyst for change in development standards in New Braunfels. Read the five columns and editorials that made up this entry: #1, #2, #3, #4 and #5.

Second-place honors went to:

Over 50,000 circulation:

• John Railey, editorial page editor, Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal. Railey's columns sought justice for victims of North Carolina's forced sterilization program. Read the entry

Under 50,000 circulation:

• Scott Morris, executive editor of the TimesDaily, Florence, Ala., who wrote about an FOI case that the newspaper won. Read the entry

Honorable Mentions
In addition, two honorable mentions were announced in each of the circulation categories.

Over 50,000 circulation:

• Tod Robberson, editorial writer, The Dallas Morning News, Dallas, Texas, who wrote about industrial zoning failures.

• Read the letter to judges
• Read first editorial
• Read second editorial
• Read third editorial
• Read fourth editorial
• Read fifth editorial
• Read fifth editorial (cont.)
• Read sixth editorial

• Mac Thrower, opinion page editor, The Daytona Beach News-Journal, Daytona Beach, Fla., who wrote about a Sunshine Law victory. Read the entry

Under 50,000 circulation:

• Bob Davis, editor, The Anniston Star, Anniston, Ala., who wrote an accounting of how Alabama's state government limits its people. Read the entry

• Paco Nunez, news editor, The Tribune, Nassau, Bahamas, who wrote that it's time to do away with the Christian Council. Read the entry

The prize is named for the late Benjamin Carmage Walls whose newspaper career spanned seven decades. Walls primarily owned community newspapers and advocated strong, courageous and positive editorial page leadership.