News

23 May SPJ Western Washington announces 2017 gala award, scholarship winners

The Society of Professional Journalists Western Washington announced today eight gala award winners and four scholarship winners for 2017. All recipients will be honored at SPJWash’s 2017 end-of-season party on June 5.

This year’s Journalist of the Year is The Stranger’s Sydney Brownstone for her relentless pursuit of truth, her reporting on rape, and the overall excellence of her journalistic coverage.

For the first time in many years, the chapter will also award the Susan Hutchison Bosch Award this season. The 2017 award will go to Julie Muhlstein of The Daily Herald for her quiet courage, perseverance, intellectual honesty, and excellence in journalism in the face of continued hardship.

Both The Seattle Times and The Evergrey will receive Innovation Awards in 2017. The University of Washington’s Andrea Otanez will be awarded the Journalism Educator of the Year honor. And three standout reporters will take home New Journalist of the Year honors: Joanna Kresge of Premier Media Group, David Kroman of Crosscut, and Walker Orenstein of The News Tribune.

SPJ Western Washington also continues to fund $12,000 in scholarship and grant support. The 2017 scholarship and grant winners are: Elizabeth Alvarado (UW), Rhiannon Berg (PLU), Lyndsey Brollini (UW), and Enrique Pérez de la Rosa (UW).