Westword wins big in 2011 with several journalism prizes

It's been a big contest year for Westword, culminating in three awards for Joel Warner at the National Association of Black Journalists convention earlier this month. Warner took the prize for investigative reporting with "Taken for a Ride," his December 2, 2010, exposé on the shady doings of some of Denver's cab companies. Warner also placed first in News-Single Story for "Trial by Fire," his July 22, 2010, look at the history and challenges of developing the old Holly Square in northeast Denver. And "Lax and the City," Warner's May 27, 2010, profile of an unlikely pair of brother and sister lacrosse players, was an NABJ finalist for News-Feature Single Story.

Alan Prendergast's "You're in Bad Hands," initially published on February 11, 2010, was a big winner this contest season, too, culminating in a first-place win for News in the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies contest announced last month in New Orleans. Warner's February 4, 2010, cover story, "Martial Law," placed second in that category.

And finally, Patricia Calhoun's "Spreading Her Wings," originally published in the September 9, 2010, issue, which will be honored next month as the Best Feature Story in a non-daily at the National Society of Professional Journalists convention in New Orleans. That story also won an honorable mention in the 2011 Casey Medals for Meritorious Journalism, which recognizes distinguished coverage of children and families, particularly the disadvantaged; those awards will be presented in October.

All of the award-winning stories, as well as any piece published in Westword over the past two decades, are available in our online archives at www.westword.com.