Better Newspaper Contest

Page 11 Special Awards The award James W. Brown, a pioneer, a cheerleader and a great asset to journalism while leading the program at IUPUI, has been heavily involved in photography and multimedia. He pushed professional journalists as well as his students toward innovation with video and audio. Always on the cutting edge, he willingly shares his knowledge with newspapers across the state. This award honors an innovation or initiative launched within the contest period that seeks to reach new readers or audiences using any resources available to the newsroom. This award may or may not be given annually at the judges' discretion. Past recipients 2009 The Indianapolis Star Digital Dashboards to connect reporters with their audiences 2010 The Indianapolis Star " John Wooden: The Indiana Story," a revenue-producing tribute video 2014 The Elkhart Truth Flavor 574 2016 The Time (Munster) NWI History Past recipients 2005 Fulton County Sheriff Roy Calvert and David Boudia of Fremont, Indiana. Boudia served as president of the Steuben Lake Regional Waste District board of trustees. 2006 Ferdinand town clerk-treasurer, Bev Schulthise 2007 Mindy Waldron, administrator of the Fort Wayne- Allen Health Department, and Lawrenceburg Clerk-Treasurer Jackie Stutz. 2008 State Sen. Beverly Gard, R-Greenfield, and State Rep. Russ Stilwell, D-Boonville, authors of legislation closing the serial meetings loophole in the Open Door Law. 2009 Indiana Coalition for Open Government. 2010 State Rep. Cleo Duncan, R-Greensburg. 2011 Deanna Durrett of Montgomery County League of Women Voters and Bluffton Mayor Ted Ellis. 2012 Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard. 2013 Greg Zoeller, Indiana Attorney General, and Jane Neulieb, Long Beach, Indiana, Town Council. 2014 Switzerland County Sheriff Roy Leap and Hope Town Council member Tim Shoaf. 2015 Griffith Police Chief Greg Mance and Gail Pebworth of the League of Women Voters of Indiana. The award The Frank O'Bannon Sunshine Award is presented to an individual, group or organization that has demonstrated outstanding efforts to protect and enhance the concepts of open government in Indiana. While not limited to public officials, HSPA hopes to recognize worthy elected officials or public employees through this award. The award is named after the late Indiana governor who was an advocate of open records and meetings. Charlie Biggs Commitment to Community Award Jack Pate, 2017 recipient Jack Pate, retired president and publisher of the Evansville Courier & Press, while not a hometown boy, embraced his now southern Indiana home as he spent the last 12 years of his newspaper career in Evansville. He was and remains active in the community, serving with various organizations including St. Mary's Foundation, Youth Resources, USI Foundation, Evansville ARC, Evansville Regional Business Committee, Economic Development Coalition of Southwest Indiana, Southwest Indiana Chamber of Commerce, Spencer County Chamber of Commerce, Old National Community Bank Board, Alcoa Community Advisory Board, the Evansville Sports Corporation, and the Buffalo Trace Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Jack, who oversaw the Courier & Press as it won three Blue Ribbon Awards from the Hoosier State Press Association, does more than fill a board room chair. "Jack's fingerprints are going to be on this community for years to come," said Bob Jones, chairman and CEO of Old National Bank. Jack didn't let his community ties interfere with his responsibility to present the news even if it upset various board members. He committed the newspaper to fight a lengthy and costly court battle to open up the causes of death in records kept by the county health department — a cause the newspaper finally won in an Indiana Supreme Court decision. He always acted on what was best for the newspaper and community and continues to do so in retirement. Jack Pate embodies the spirit of Charlie Biggs. The award Charlie Biggs was the publisher of the Hope-Star Journal and the past president of the Hoosier State Press Association board of directors and longtime committee member, and past chair of the Newsroom Seminar Committee. He lived for his hometown, wrote about it and took part in its life To honor Charlie and his commitment to community, the Newsroom Seminar Committee created "The Charlie" to recognized others who served as he did. James W. Brown Digital Drive Award The Drop with Justin Mack, The Indianapolis Star, 2017 recipient The Drop is a daily show on Indystar.com geared for Facebook that offers a concise and amusing look at the day's notable news. From pop culture to politics, it informs and entertains through snappy dialogue and creative graphics. The Drop occasionally wanders into the print edition with off kilter features that point back to its digital presence. It also curates a Twitter account that shares episodes and supplementary humor related to The Drop and the news of the day. During this year's contest period, The Drop had more than 479,000 Facebook views. Overall viewership is up 50 percent since The Drop was launched. For their innovation and initiative with audience outreach, the Hoosier State Press Association awards the 2017 James W. Brown Digital Drive Award to the Indianapolis Star's The Drop with Justin Mack. Frank O'Bannon Sunshine Award Jeff Rasche, Greenfield Police Chief, 2017 recipient Last May, two Greenfield police officers were suspended after a man they arrested died after having been subjected to a Taser. The Daily Reporter, doing its job, started asking newly appointed Police Chief Jeff Rasche about the event, the department's training policies and Taser procedures. What followed, according to Daily Reporter Editor Noelle Steele, was a commendable display of government transparency by Chief Jeff Rasche. The chief learned the department's Taser certification had expired and one of the officers had not practiced with the weapon for four years. Rasche didn't hide behind the "investigatory records" exception to the state's Access to Public Records Act to try and keep what could be embarrassing revelations secret. Instead, he went to the newspaper's officers with documents in hand, department policy, the Taser user guide and records he could have denied access to Steele's staff — including records they didn't even know existed. Greenfield's police chief helped shine a light on an issue he believed put the public in danger and publicly took steps to correct the problem. This is the type of public service that clearly deserves the Frank O'Bannon Sunshine Award.

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