Wrangell Sentinel staff won five awards in the annual Alaska Press Club competition, with radio station KSTK bringing home four honors in the statewide contest for journalists.
Marc Lutz won second place in the Best Feature Story category (small newspapers) for his report in the Sept. 21, 2022, Sentinel about retired teacher Jacquie Dozier’s 1965 lunch with Queen Elizabeth II while in the U.K. on a teacher exchange program.
The judge commented on Lutz’s work: “A timely memory of QEII, published just after the monarch’s death. The reporter did a good job of extracting narrative details from the subject, making the queen in 1965 come alive for readers.”
Lutz won third place for Best Education Reporting (all newspapers) for his story in the March 2, 2022, Sentinel about the high school shop class: “Right tools for the jobs.” The judge commented: “Solid reporting throughout, and well-written.”
Caroleine James took second place in Best Alaska History Reporting (all news media) for her story in the Oct. 19, 2022, Sentinel about the late Tillie Paul Tamaree and her act of civil disobedience 100 years earlier that helped win voting rights for Alaska Natives. The judge wrote: “Straightforward approach, solid reporting, great subject on a big anniversary.”
Larry Persily took first place for Best Columnist (all newspapers) for his Nov. 23, 2022, column about why Sarah Palin lost the election to represent Alaska in the U.S. House. The judge wrote: “The writer knows Alaska. His columns reflect intellect, experience and wisdom. He offers a compass for those who value honesty and reality.”
Persily won third place in Best Editorial or Commentary (all news media) for his Jan. 20, 2022, editorial, cautioning the borough assembly to be careful about making decisions in executive session. “Good, old-fashioned watchdog journalism. What local editorial pages are for,” the judge wrote.
KSTK news director Sage Smiley won four awards in the competition, including a first place in Best Arts Reporting (audio entries) for her reporting on Wrangell High School students’ winning entry in the Vans shoe design contest (May 12, 2022).
Smiley also won first place for Best Sound-Rich Feature (audio) for her report on designing an expanded trail system for Wrangell (Oct. 31, 2022).
She won third place for Best Fisheries Reporting (all news media) for reporting on a salmon bycatch task force (Feb. 16, 2022), and third place in Best Culture Reporting (audio) for her report “Learning Lingít at lunch” (Nov. 14, 2022).
Wrangell resident Vivian Faith Prescott, writing for the Capital City Weekly in Juneau, won first place in the Best Feature Photo category for her picture of bears on Chichagof Island.
The awards were presented at the annual Alaska Press Club conference on April 22 in Anchorage.
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