Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
St. Petersburg Times staff writer Kelley Benham has won the 2003 Ernie Pyle Award for human interest writing, the Scripps Howard Foundation said Friday in announcing its National Journalism Awards.
Benham, 29, was honored for articles about the funeral of formal wear store owner Jerry Sacino; unemployed people looking for work; an Iraq war protester; death row inmate Amos Lee King and his victim's family; people recovering belongings after a fire in Lealman; and Terri Schiavo, who has been in a persistent vegetative state for 14 years.
The judges called Benham's stories "the most original, most compelling, most moving and most diverse. Kelley takes a variety of subject matters and writes clearly, creatively and movingly without resorting to melodrama."
To read the articles online, please go to www.sptimes.com and click on Tampa Bay.
The award will be given on April 23 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Benham will receive $5,000 and the Ernie Pyle trophy, named for the legendary World War II newspaper correspondent.
The National Journalism Awards, which are open to all U.S. news organizations and college journalism educators, recognize excellence in 19 categories. They also honor distinguished service to journalism education, literacy and the First Amendment.