Awards

Every day, The Sacramento Bee delivers journalistic and photographic excellence to readers in this region. Throughout the paper you'll find writing and photography that receive the industry's most prestigious awards year after year. It's coverage you'll find only in The Bee.

To see more of the writing and photography featured in The Bee during the past year that has won awards, click here:

A Mother's Journey

When you look into the face of someone with cancer, you may have no idea what is going on beyond chemo and radiation. It's human nature to turn away. But it is real life, and it is going on in homes all over this country, where more than 1 million people are diagnosed every year. Cyndie French and her son Derek opened their lives for a year to share their story.

Written by Cynthia Hubert
• First Place, Health Care Journalism, Association of Health Care Journalists
Photographs by Renee C. Byer
• Pulitzer Prize, Columbia School of Journalism
• Sigma Delta Chi Award, The Society of Professional Journalists
• Second Place, Days Japan International Photojournalism Awards, Days Japan magazine
• Award of Excellence, Society of News Design International Competition
• Third Place, Photo Essay/Story National Headliners Contest, Press Club of Atlantic City
• First Place, Human Understanding Award, Pictures of the Year International
• First Place, Newspaper Feature Picture Story, San Francisco Bay Area Press Photographers Association
• Second Place, Newspaper Best Multimedia Package, San Francisco Bay Area Press Photographers Association
Online Editors: Manny Crisostomo and Andy Alfaro
•Second Place, Multi-page feature story, Pictures of The Year International
Photo and Graphics Editors: Robert Casey, Mark Morris and Sue Morrow
• Award of Excellence, Society of News Design National Competition • Second Place, Newspaper Documentary Photojournalism Project/Multiple Pages Category (picture editing), National Press Photographers Association

The Weight

The burdens they carry are enormous -- not just on their oversized frames, but in so many other facets of their lives. Meet Ricci, Annya and Jahcobie, three teens struggling with obesity and all its complications. They arrive at the Academy of the Sierras not only to shed pounds, but to forever transform themselves.

Writing and Photography by Manny Crisostomo
• McClatchy President's Award
• Award of Excellence, Society of News Design
• Award of Excellence, Newspaper, Best Multimedia Package, San Francisco Bay Area Press Photographers Association
• Finalist, Distinguished Achievement Awards, Association of Educational Publishers
Photo Editors: Mark Morris, Tim Reese, Manny Crisostomo
• Third Place, Newspaper Documentary Photojournalism Project/Multiple Pages Category (picture editing), National Press Photographers Association

CHP

Written by John Hill and Andrew McIntosh
• James Madison Freedom of Information Award, Society of Professional Journalists

Hired Hands

Written by Susan Ferriss
• Citation of Excellence, Columbia Race and Ethnicity Award, Columbia University School of Journalism

Sea of Change

A quarter century ago, 45 people waited on a remote Vietnam beach, yearning to escape. Today, they and the six crew members who piloted the boat called the Peace at Sea are our neighbors. They live and work in Sacramento, Stockton, San Jose and Half Moon Bay, where they have found what they dreamed of in April 1980: freedom.
Written by Stephen Magagnini
• Citation of Excellence, Columbia Race and Ethnicity Award, Columbia University School of Journalism

Tempting Fate

In cities across the nation, rivers, streams, lakes, creeks and seas have made their sinister mark, inflicting damage and heartache when they flood. There is, however, no major city in America more at risk of a catastrophic New Orleans-style flood than Sacramento. Includes detailed new maps outlining flood dangers facing Sacramento neighborhoods.

Written by Bee Staff
• First Place, Fairbanks Public Service Award, Associated Press News Executives Council • Second Place, Environment and Natural Resources Reporting, Best of the West

The Price of Access

California law allows uniquely generous damages to disabled people who sue restaurants, stores and hotels for failing to provide adequate access. That has sparked a wave of lawsuits and made the state a magnet for lawyers, plaintiffs and practices one entrepreneur called "a big shakedown."
Written by Sam Stanton and Marjie Lundstrom
• Best in Business Award, Society of American Business Editors and Writers

Other awards

Numerous other writers, editors and photographers from The Sacramento Bee have also been honored for their work:

Associated Press News Executives Council
• Brian Baer, Second Place, Business Photo, "Comic"
• Anita Creamer, Second Place, Local Column, "Baby Killer" Tells Teacher's Side
• Bryan Patrick, First Place, Business Photo, "Lettuce"

Association of California School Administrators
• Walt Yost, Partnership in Education Award, School District coverage

Association of Educational Publishers
• Laurel Rosenhall, Finalist, Distinguished Achievement Awards, Put to The Test

Best of the West
• Andrew McIntosh, Second Place, General Reporting, "Governor in the Jet-Lease Business"
• Bee Staff, Second Place, Project Reporting, "Sexually Violent Predators"
• Lisa Heyamoto, Second Place, Featuring Writing, "The Designer Jean Pool"
• Second Place, Mike Dunne, Special Topic, Wine Columns
• Sam McManis, Third Place, Featuring Writing, "What the (bleep)?"
• Tom Knudson, Third Place, Spot News Reporting, "Fire"

Council on Crime and Delinquency
• Phillip Reese, PASS Award, CAR Crime stories

National Low-Income Housing Coalition
• Jocelyn Wiener, First Place, Cushing Niles Dolbeare Media Award, Tahoe Basin coverage

Pictures of the Year International
• Lezlie Sterling, Award of Excellence, Feature Photography

SF Bay Area Press Photographers Association
• Bryan Patrick, First Place, Newspaper Spot News, "Flooded Home"
• Brian Baer, First Place, Newspaper Feature, "Cold Jump"
• Brian Baer, Award of Excellence: Newspaper News Picture Story, "Angelides Loses"

Society of News Design
• Margaret Spengler, Award of Excellence, "Bugging the Enemy”"

University of Colorado Journalism School
• Phillip Reese, Honorable Mention, Al Nakkula Award, Police Reporting