Please welcome our brave online members!  (click name to email)

Rebecca I. Allen
Glendale, Ariz.
Rebecca is a reporter for the West Valley View. She covers public safety, criminal justice and county and state government. Visit her Web site at www.rebeccaiallen.com, her blog at http://rebeccaiallen.blogspot.com/ or find her on LinkedIn.
Rebecca serves on the board of Arizona Press Club and the Arizona First Amendment Coalition and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists, Investigative Reporters and Editors and Journalism & Women's Symposium.

MEMBER NEWS

·  Congratulations to the following APW members who placed in the NFPW 2008 Communications Contest. Awards will be presented at NFPW 's annual conference is Sept. 11-13 in Idaho Falls, Idaho

• Mary Katherine Arensberg, second place, Fiction, Novel (Full-length, 40,000 Words and Up)

• Vera Marie Badertscher, first place, Special Articles, Rotating Subject: Nature; and first place, Writing for the Web: Feature Articles Specifically for the Web

• Gail Hearne, honorable mention, Feature Story, Daily Newspaper

• Barbara Marriott, third place, Non-Fiction book, History

• Catherine Rourke, first place, Writing for the Web, Commentary; second place, Website Edited by entrant, news; and honorable mention, Website Development/Creation , non-profit

• Karen Walenga, first place, Sections/Supplements Edited By Entrant, Non-daily newspaper

Congratulations to the following APW members who placed in the NFPW 2007 Communications Contest:

• Jan Cleere, first, 72D, Non-fiction, book, history

• Kaye Patchett, first, 74B, Children’s books, non-fiction

• Vera Marie Badertscher, first, 9P, Special articles, travel

• Patricia Myers, first, 33E, Feature articles written specifically for the Web

• Patricia Myers, second, 33F, Commentary (includes columns, reviews, and editorials) written specifically for the Web

• Candace Hughes, third, 7A, Feature story, non-daily newspaper

• Candace Hughes, third, 9B, Special articles, agriculture, agribusiness, aquaculture

• Wynne Brown, third, 72A, Non-fiction, book, general

·  Eleven APW members placed in the 2006 NFPW Communications Contest! Congratulations Vera Marie Badertscher, Ruth Ann Hogue, Nancy Maneely, Patricia Myers, Kaye Patchett, Betsy Rice, Catherine Rourke, Kerri S. Smith, Mary Kim Titla, Karen Walenga and Rebecca I. Allen. Awards were presented Sept. 9 at the national conference in Denver, Colo. Read about their wins in the summer TypeRider. For a complete list of winners visit http://www.nfpw.org/competitions.htm

·  Congratulations to APW members Betsy Rice, Catherine Rourke and Rebecca I. Allen for their wins in the 2005 Arizona Press Club awards!    

··  Rourke came in second runner-up for Community Journalist of the Year!  Judge Bill Hanna, executive editor of the Mesabi Daily News, led the Minnesota paper to 15 National Newspaper Association awards this year, including the prizes for investigative work. He was profiled in the July/August 2005 issue of Columbia Journalism Review as being one of the nation’s best small town editors. “In her ‘Tales from the Trenches’ writings, Rourke covers a myriad of everyday life experiences of people,” Hanna wrote. “Sometimes such writing can be trite and cliché, but not by her. She gives it interesting life. Good job.”

··  Rice, editor of the Maricopa Monitor, earned a third place out of 52 entries in the  Commentary/Analysis, small newspapers, category for "City can save fire district from crisis." Judge Lindor Reynolds, a columnist with the Winnepeg Free Press who won the 2005 Will Rogers Humanitarian Award from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, wrote this about Rice,  “A straightforward editorial that clearly lays out the issues, backgrounds them thoroughly and offers up a solution. This is plain, good writing. No tricks, but she doesn't need them.”

·  Rice also received an honorable mention in the Sustained Coverage, small newspapers, category for her coverage of Maricopa's future. The category had 31 entries. The judge, Elaine Ayala, a feature writer for the San Antonio Express News who has been a reporter, copy editor, editorial writer, features editor and editorial page editor during her 26-year career, wrote, “Rice's coverage of Maricopa's future is comprehensive and readable.”

·  Allen earned a first place out of 26 entries in the Politics/Government Reporting, midsize newspapers and magazines, category for "Councilman accused of exploiting committee."  The judge, Mark Grossi, covers the environment and natural resources for The Fresno Bee and is a former Knight Science Journalism Fellow with MIT. Grossi has won awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association, the Meade Prize for coverage of air pollution and an Investigative Reporters and Editors award for environmental coverage. Of Allen's article he wrote, “This story is why I pay my 50 cents for a newspaper, instead of getting the abridged version on television. It details the ethical line that a councilman's top aide clearly crossed to benefit a developer while attempting to avoid widespread scrutiny. Allen wisely and fairly told both sides of the story. But she had the goods on this dirty deal, and no one could explain away the conflict of interest. The whole town should be talking about this. If I lived there, I would eagerly await Allen's next installment. Here's a reporter I would want on my metro staff.”

· Allen placed second out of 23 entries in the Education Reporting, midsize newspapers and magazines, category for "Yearbook pornography debate spurs censorship concerns." Judge Doug Erickson, a reporter for the Wisconsin State Journal, who has been honored by the National Education Writing Association, wrote, "A succinct, well-organized news story bolstered by good research, historical context and a range of community voices.”

· Allen also earned third place in the same category for  "DVUSD dilemma: Cover-up plagues O’Connor High." The judge commented, “This article’s take-no-prisoners approach leaves the reader a little stunned at times, but you’ve got to applaud the reporter for relentlessly challenging the district’s stonewalling. The reporter’s ability to get school employees to go on the record criticizing their superiors is impressive.”

The Press Club awards were presented at the annual awards banquet May 6. Fellow APW members Kerri Smith, Candace Hughes, Lindsey Gemme and Julia Patrick attended the event, which was emceed by Mike Watkiss of KTVK, Channel 3. Visit Arizona Press Club for a complete list of 2005 contest winners.