Amy Silverman's obituary of John McCain earned national honors.
Randy Pollack
Two national organizations have honored the work of current and former Phoenix New Times journalists.
The Society of Features Journalism announced on Wednesday that former New Times managing editor Amy Silverman, food critic Chris Malloy, and longtime contributor Robrt L. Pela were winners in the competition's Division I for news organizations with circulation of less than 90,000.
Silverman won first place in general features for her John McCain obit: "Vintage John McCain."
Malloy took a second for food feature for his cover story on foraging for native Arizona foods, "A Journey Into the Heart of New Arizonan Cuisine."
Pela placed third in arts and entertainment writing for "Battle of the Ladmo Bag Boys," a profile of two grown men still fighting over the legacy of a long-ago TV kids' program, The Wallace and Ladmo Show.
Previously, New Times learned that two contributors, Sean Holstege and Bill Myers, along with full-time reporter Meg O'Connor, are finalists in the Association of Alternative Newsmedia contest.
Holstege is a finalist for beat coverage for a collection of crime stories he wrote in 2018, including a two-part series, "Circle of Terror," about how a Syrian bomb maker was convicted in Phoenix for IEDs that killed Arizona soldiers in Iraq.
Myers is a finalist for longform writing for "Missing Deadly Signs," his coverage of the Phoenix City Prosecutor’s office decision to release accused abusers who later were charged with murder.
O’Connor, who now works for Phoenix New Times, is a finalist for the investigative reporting award for "Reefer Sadness," about needless arrests of pot smokers in Miami, written while she was a fellow at Miami New Times.
The AAN winners will be announced in September.
