THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 12, 1997 TAG: 9701120055
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 128 lines
The Virginian-Pilot received top honors Saturday from the Virginia Press Association during its annual meeting in Roanoke.
And Pilot columnist Guy Friddell, whose words have become a breakfast-table companion to thousands over his 50-year career, was honored for his lifetime contribution to journalism.
The newspaper received the sweepstakes award for overall excellence, and Pilot staffers were awarded three best-in-show honors for daily newspapers by the VPA and another from the Virginia News Photographers Association.
The Pilot, published in Norfolk by Landmark Communications Inc., won the sweepstakes award among daily newspapers with circulation greater than 50,000. It also won best-in-show for photography, artwork and presentation.
Martin Smith-Rodden won the photography award for ``Robert, Roberta,'' a picture story on gender reassignment.
Robert Voros won the daily artwork award for a two-page graphic about the Virginia Marine Science Museum.
The Pilot staff won the daily news presentation award for the design of its pages.
Another Pilot photographer, Huy Nguyen, tied with Pamela Miller of the Daily Press in Newport News for best-in-show honors in the Virginia News Photographers Association's annual photo competition.
Adrin Snider of the Daily Press was named Virginia News Photographer of the Year by the VNPA. The organization held its annual meeting in conjunction with the VPA.
Friddell and Charles R. McDowell Jr., Washington-based political observer for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, were honored as the first recipients of the VPA's Lifetime Achievement Award.
Friddell, whose work is distributed by Landmark to a number of other newspapers, came to Norfolk in 1963 as editorial-page editor of The Pilot.
He previously worked as city hall reporter for the Lynchburg News (now The News and Advance), county reporter for the Nyack (N.Y.) Journal-News and political writer for the Richmond News-Leader.
Friddell has opened Virginia to the world through numerous books, among them: ``Hello, Hampton Roads,'' 1987, a words-and-pictures portrait of Southeastern Virginia; ``Miracle at Yorktown,'' 1981; ``Colgate Darden: Conversations with Guy Friddell,'' 1979; ``Washington, D.C., the Open City,'' 1974; ``The Virginia Way,'' 1973; ``We Began at Jamestown,'' 1968; ``What is it About Virginia,'' 1966, which led to a Virginia Senate resolution honoring Friddell in 1968; ``I Love You, I Hate You,'' 1965; ``Tales of Sgt. Bull Maypop,'' and ``Jackstraws,'' a collection of columns written for the News-Leader.
Friddell also was honored by the VPA last year when it named its top award for writing in daily newspapers for him.
He was inducted into the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame in 1990, was recognized as a Friend of Education by Phi Delta Kappa in 1988, received the George Mason Award from the Society of Professional Journalists in 1978, was granted an honorary doctor of letters degree by the University of Richmond in 1963, and won a National Headliner Award for feature writing in 1959.
In other presentations Saturday, William C. O'Donovan, publisher of The Virginia Gazette in Williamsburg, was named winner of the VPA's 10th annual D. Lathan Mims Award for editorial leadership and service to the community.
O'Donovan, who also received the Mims award in 1990, was chosen from among five nominees. The award is reserved for editorial writers at daily papers with circulation less than 40,000, and nondaily papers of any size.
``This editor offers tough, forthright commentary on issues important to the Williamsburg area,'' said judge Will Norton Jr., dean of the College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Nebraska. ``The extremely readable text provides arguments that are easy to follow and strongly bolstered by facts.
``Clearly, O'Donovan ably supports those things that would make his community a better place in which to live.''
The Mims award is named for the late D. Lathan Mims, former editor and general manager of the Daily News-Record in Harrisonburg and an active participant in the Virginia Press Association. He was president of VPA in 1974. His daughter, Sandra Mims Rowe, is editor of The Oregonian in Portland, Ore., and a former editor of The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch was selected as winner of the VPA's 49th annual W.S. Copeland Award for journalistic integrity and public service.
``What I saw was a newspaper with great editing, great planning, great reporting and great editorial writing,'' said judge Neale Copple, retired dean of the College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Nebraska.
The Times-Dispatch, selected from among eight entries, received the Copeland award for the third time; previous wins were in 1994 and 1959. The Richmond News Leader, now merged into the Times-Dispatch, won the Copeland in 1979.
Individual VPA awards were presented in a number of categories to journalists from around the state. These were the first-place winners from publications in southeast Virginia:
Daily Press, Newport News - Joe Fudge, sports photo; Kenneth D. Lyons, feature photo; Skip Miller, sports column writing; Kimberly Lenz and Pamela Miller, combination pictures and story.
Soundings, Norfolk - Harold Gerwien, picture story or essay; Gerwien and Mark Taylor, combination pictures and story.
The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk - Steve Earley, personality or portrait photo; Margaret Edds, feature series or continuing story; Mike Mather, series of news stories; Ann G. Sjoerdsma, critical writing; Martin Smith-Rodden, photo-illustration, picture story or essay, and spot news photo; Frank Vehorn, sports feature writing; Tamara Voninski, general news photo; Robert Voros, informational graphics; staff, sports event writing, spot news writing, excellence of front page, excellence of general makeup, special sections or special editions, and excellence of sports pages.
The Poquoson Post, Poquoson - Kathy Lee Hull, column writing.
Port Folio, Virginia Beach - Nancy Chapman and Michael Clark, sports news story.
Sussex-Surry Dispatch, Wakefield - Eliza Callard, series of news stories; Brian M. Rafferty, editorial writing.
The Flat Hat, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg - Aaron Quidort, editorial cartoons, informational graphics, illustrations; Brett Tobin, sports writing.
The Virginia Gazette, Williamsburg - W.C. O'Donovan, editorial writing.
York Town Crier, Yorktown - Lois Chesley, picture story or essay.
Individual VNPA awards also were presented in a number of photography categories. First-place winners from publications in southeast Virginia included:
Daily Press, Newport News - Adrin Snider, general news, editorial illustration and portfolio; Kenneth Lyons, fashion illustration; Pamela Miller, feature picture story.
The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk - Huy Nguyen, portrait/personality; Martin Smith-Rodden, food illustration. ILLUSTRATION: Photos
Guy Friddell
Huy Nguyen
Martin Smith-Rodden
Robert Voros
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA PRESS ASSOCIATION AWARDS