By Bobby Ross Jr.
CHICAGO — I was blessed to receive eight honors — including first place in three categories — in the Associated Church Press “Best of the Church Press” contest.
The awards, presented at the ACP’s annual awards banquet April 11, recognized content produced in 2018.
In all, The Christian Chronicle received 15 awards.
In case my mother is reading, here is a list of my awards:
First Place, News Story, for “Tears and fears: Church teen killed by Arkansas police” from North Little Rock, Ark.
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First Place, Feature Article, for “18 wheels and a heart to serve” from Panama City, Fla.
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First Place (with Erik Tryggestad and Chellie Ison), Theme Issue, Section or Series, for “Big Questions” project, including my stories “Can Churches of Christ reach millennials?” and “In urban Oklahoma, a growing congregation takes a big step” from Tulsa, Okla.
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Second Place, News Story, for “After Botham Jean’s shooting death, his Dallas church intent on seeking justice” from Dallas.
Second Place, In-Depth Coverage, for Botham Jean stories, including “Botham is singing with the angels,” “Christians ask God to bring #Justice4Botham” and “Fatal mistake.”
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Second Place (staff award), Best in Class, National or International Newspaper, for The Christian Chronicle.
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Third Place (with Hamil Harris), Theme Issue, Section or Series, for “50 Years: Racial Reconciliation and the Church” project, including “Marshall Keeble’s ‘boy preachers’ still baptizing and saving souls” from Los Angeles, “Two legacies: 50 years later,” “Fifty years after historic meeting, race still divides Churches of Christ” and “Once-segregated Christian university targets racism with launch of new research center” from Abilene, Texas.
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Third Place, Convention or Meeting Coverage, for “‘Love Wins’ at same-sex conference” from Dallas.
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• RELATED: My profile of disaster relief truck driver places first in two national contests
The Ross News 