Times' staff wins Arizona Press Club awards
By Duane A. Beyal
Navajo Times
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Courtesy photo
Times reporter Cindy Yurth is Arizona's Community Reporter of the Year, for dedication to coverage of Chinle and other communities on the Navajo Nation.
We are happy to report to our readers that the Navajo Times staff won five first places and seven second places in the Arizona Press Club's 2007 contest.
The awards were revealed and presented Saturday evening at the Heard Museum in Phoenix.
Among the awards is one of the most prestigious — the Community Journalist of the Year, which was won by Tséyi' Bureau reporter Cindy Yurth.
This award goes to the heart of our business, which is to collect and report news about our communities.
Not only is news about informing the people, it also can be entertaining or enlightening by highlighting the human condition and the dynamics that exist sometimes right under our noses.
The organizers of the Arizona Press Club call this award one of the Big Four awards, the others being the Virg Hill Journalist of the Year, the Arizona Designer of the Year and Arizona Photographer of the Year.
This also marks the second year in the past three that a Navajo Times reporter has won this award. Veteran reporter Marley Shebala won the award in 2006.
Besides Cindy's honor, of particular pride to we at the Times is our first place award in the category of sustained coverage.
The judges, who are themselves award-winning journalists from across the United States, decided that the Navajo Times' three-part series titled "Housing fiasco" was of sufficient quality and initiative to earn the first place award.
This series was produced through a team effort by reporters Cindy Yurth, Marley Shebala, Annie Greenberg, Jason Begay and correspondent Bill Donovan.
Unfortunately, a centerpiece of the series, the vacant Chilchinbeto, Ariz., housing units, remain unused and vacant to this day, depriving Navajo families of desperately needed housing.
Besides her community journalist of the year award, Cindy also won first place in the environmental/health reporting category for her story "Perfect match; Navajo man donates bone marrow to Tlingit boy."
Marley Shebala won first place in the education reporting category for her story "Diné k'eji' a'di'ni; Language class shows that speaking, writing are a way of life."
The judges commented that the story draws readers into the classroom where students are writing Navajo words and phrases.
In the same category, Marley also won second place for her story "Math made fun," which reported on the relationship between math and the ancient Navajo art of weaving saddle cinches.
Marley also won second place in the public safety reporting category for her story "After the fall," about a family's struggles with methamphetamine with the accompanying violence, fallout and long recovery.
For all you connoisseurs out there, you will be happy to know that Marley also won second place in the business reporting category for her story "Dreaming of 'ach'ii'," about a business that caters to the Navajos' taste for a cultural delicacy.
Candice Begody, a student intern at the Times who quickly rose to become a full-fledged reporter, won second place in the sports reporting category for her story "The struggle for gold," about Brandon Leslie and Alvina Begay who were trying to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team in the marathon.
Readers familiar with our paper know that we place a high priority on photography, mostly because we are blessed with three of the best photographers in the United States — Paul Natonabah, Donovan Quintero and Leigh T. Jimmie.
So we are happy to report that our other awards were in photography with Donovan winning first place in pictorial photography for "Air," his image of the Red Bull air race held at Monument Valley Tribal Park.
Donovan won second place in the same category for "Prayer," his image of teepees glowing at night under a clear night sky.
Donovan also won second place in portrait photography for his image "Freeze," of elder Jeanette Davis, 80, who attended a press conference held to discuss the continuing plight of residents of the former Bennett Freeze area.
Many talented photographers work at newspapers throughout the industry, but few are as gifted as Donovan who has an artist's eye but with a knife's edge for finding images that are not only beautiful but newsworthy.
Finally, photographer Leigh T. Jimmie, a student intern who also progressed rapidly to become a professional journalist, won second place in layout and design for "Special Olympics," a collection of photos of a Navajo Nation Special Olympics track meet.
While this award is also a tip of the hat to our layout staff, Leigh's images are what drove the composition. She has a gift for taking pictures of people, one that we hope she continues to develop throughout her career.
These awards are the result of our mission to serve you, the Navajo people. In that light, these awards are also yours because they would not have been possible if we did not have the opportunity to live and work within the Four Sacred Mountains.
Also, the Navajo Times is best viewed as a public trust. It belongs to you and the tribal council has given us the responsibility take care of it and to do the best job we can.
If we had submitted more entries, we are confident we would have won more awards. However, our job continues and we will strive to deliver more honors to the Navajo Nation and to you, our readers.
