Coverage of Blackhawks scandal earns AP story of the year
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Associated Press Sports Writer Jay Cohen coverage of the Chicago Blackhawks sexual assault scandal won Story of the Year honors in the annual contest for AP staffers judged by the Associated Press Sports Editors.
The judges said Cohen’s story on Blackhawks former assistant coach Brad Aldrich “could have been an ESPN ‘30 for 30’ episode detailing how a lack of oversight led to a sexual predator being put in a position to coach young people in his hometown.”
Howard Fendrich won the Grimsley Award for body of work, including — Serena Williams loses to Tomljanovic in US Open farewell, Under Dan Snyder, Washington sank from NFL elite to also-ran and Federer on GOAT debate in AP Interview: How can you compare? Steve Douglas captured Deadline Writing honors with his story, “ Messi wins World Cup, Argentina beats France on penalties. ” Bernie Wilson won Feature Writing for his work on “ Changes let high school athletes bank big endorsement bucks. ”
A look at Sports Inflation by a team of AP writers, including Cohen, Jimmy Golen, Hank Kurz Jr., Eric Olson, Eddie Pells, Andrew Seligman and John Wawrow, captured Package of the Year with a look at the impact of inflation on sports from the youth level to o wners of major professional teams.
The goal of this category is to award AP’s most ambitious journalism that tells great stories and makes strong use of digital presentation and social media.
Judges said the package “was a creative, audience-forward approach to something that affects everyone, a great example of the intersection of sports and culture and how to present that information to a great number of people.”
In the photo competition, Charles Rex Arbogast won Best Portfolio for his collection of work including NBA and NFL action from Bulls and Bears games, other game feature imagery and a feature story on young kids training in ski jumping at the at the Norge Ski Club in Fox River Grove, Illinois, a location that has produced Olympic ski jumpers for a second straight Winter Olympics.
One judge noted that Arbogast’s work was “a wonderful combination of journalism, photography and storytelling.”
Other photography awards went to:
Brynn Anderson won Feature Photo honors for her image of former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski during the Blue Devils loss to rival North Carolina at the Final Four — which brought to a close his coaching career.
Frank Augstein won Action Photo for the image he captured of Alfa Romeo driver Guanyu Zhou of China crashing at the start of the British Formula One Grand Prix in Silverstone, England.
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For more on APSE: https://www.apsportseditors.com/category/apse-conference/2022-winter-conference/