Local Media Take Home the Awards!
The Dallas Bar Association honored the best legal news reporting in the Dallas-Fort Worth area today, September 23, as it hosted the 33rd Annual Stephen Philbin Awards at the Belo Mansion. In selecting the winners, judges consider educational value, accuracy, resourcefulness, as well as the journalist’s initiative in pursuing the story and the story’s contribution to public debate.
Taking home this year’s grand prize award was MichaelHall, of Texas Monthly, for his article “The Outcast,” which tells the complex story of Greg Torti, who for almost twenty years lived the life of a convicted sex offender. Through it all, Greg proclaims his innocence and strives to make a better life for his family now. As one judge stated: “The Outcast is creative, informative, and courageous journalism that shines a light on a part of the justice system none of us wants to think about. The writing was superb.”
Additional winners include:
· Electronic Media News/Feature: Jocelyn Allison and Jess Davis, Law360, for their article “Made in Texas: The Battle to Ground a Rocket Docket”
· Metropolitan/Statewide Spot News: Jennifer Emily, The Dallas Morning News, for her article, “My Life is Not Worthless”
· Metropolitan/Statewide Series of Articles: Jennifer Emily and Diane Jennings, The Dallas Morning News, for their series “Kids or Criminals: Growing Up and Getting Out”
· Magazine Feature Article: Mary Mapes, D Magazine, for her article “Who Was the Real Killer?”
· Metropolitan/Statewide Newspaper Feature: Amy Martyn, Dallas Observer, for her article “Dallas Valet Drivers are Taken for a Ride”
· Radio/Television News Report: the KDFW-TV team of Lori Brown, Vicki Chen, Glenn Dickson and Bob Hawman, for their report “Broken System Fails Abused Animals in Dallas”
· Suburban Newspaper Article: Kathy Cruz, Hood County News, for her work on the article “Landmark Study Concluded”
The Philbin Awards were established in 1983 in honor of Stephen Philbin, an active member of the Dallas Bar Association and a leading authority on media law, who lost his battle with leukemia in 1982. Winners in each of the categories receive a $750 cash award, with the Grand Prize winner receiving a $1,500 cash award. Winning entries are selected by a panel of judges, which included John F. Murphy, Instructional Associate Professor of Law, Texas A&M University School of Law; and Karen Thomas, Professor of Practice, Division of Journalism, Southern Methodist University.
Charles “Chip” Babcock, a first amendment lawyer and trial and appellate attorney at Jackson Walker, L.L.P., was the keynote speaker for this year’s Philbin Awards Luncheon, which included an audience of nearly 200 lawyers, judges, and journalists.
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The Dallas Bar Association is a professional, voluntary organization of more than 11,000 Dallas-area attorneys. To find out more, visit www.dallasbar.org.