News

11 May Help us recognize the best in Washington journalism

The Western Washington Chapter of Society of Professional Journalists is asking members of the journalism community to nominate outstanding journalists in our area for six special chapter awards:

• Journalist of the Year
• New Journalist of the Year
• June Anderson Almquist Lifetime Achievement Award
• Susan Hutchison Bosch Award for Perseverance and Quiet Courage
• Innovation Award
• Journalism Educator of the Year

Submit nominations here by June 19. Scroll down to read award descriptions.

Help us honor the best professionals in our industry. Nominees must work in Washington state. Self-nominations will not be accepted.

Journalist of the Year: This award will go to a local journalist who has made an impact both externally (with the public) and internally. Any journalist can win this award – from a copy editor or page designer to an editor or producer to a writer or photographer to a single-person running an online site. The nominator must demonstrate to us that this person has had a standout year. Please be as specific as possible.

New Journalist of the Year: This award will go to an outstanding journalist who has been working full-time for three years or less. It’s not easy being the “newbie” and sometimes you don’t get the most glorious assignments. This award is to honor those new journalists who take on tasks, no matter what they are, with enthusiasm and determination. This award may be given to multiple journalists.

June Anderson Almquist Lifetime Achievement Award: In the late 1960s, the SPJ Western Washington Chapter established the “Courage in Journalism” and “Service to Journalism” awards to honor organizations and individuals for special contributions toward the betterment of journalism within Washington state. They were later combined into one under the moniker of the “Distinguished Service to Journalism Award.” The board renamed the award the “June Anderson Almquist Award for Distinguished Service to Journalism,” following the trailblazing Seattle Times journalist’s death in 2000. This award will recognize a journalist whose lifetime career has left a substantial mark on the industry and public.

Susan Hutchison Bosch Award for Perseverance and Quiet Courage: Susan Hutchison Bosch, an environmental affairs reporter for the Seattle P-I, contracted lymphoma at the age of 18 while a student at the University of Washington and died of Hodgkin’s disease at the age of 25 in 1971. Bosch “personified intellectual honesty, deep understanding of people and their problems, abiding fairness, grace, perseverance and quiet courage,” according to the board that established this award in her honor. “Though afflicted with Hodgkin’s disease, she rejected despair and chose to live a fully committed life.” The award is presented only when the recipient is judged uniquely qualified and his or her work reflects the qualities Bosch defined in life.

Innovation Award: This award will go to a journalist or staff of journalists who have innovated in the service of their audience in a powerful way. The nominator must describe a specific innovation made during the course of the award year and explain how the innovation broke new ground and made an impact. Any journalist or staff of journalists in any medium can win this award, including writers, photographers, broadcasters, producers, editors, managers and designers.

Journalism Educator of the Year: This award will go to a teacher who has made an exceptional contribution to journalism education and standards of the profession. Any level of journalism educator can win this award, including high school and college. The nominator must describe why this teacher has made a difference and is an outstanding teacher. The nominator can be a student, former student, parent or colleague.