By Bobby Ross Jr.
LAS VEGAS — The Religion News Association presented the 2019 Awards for Religion Reporting Excellence at its annual convention this past weekend.
I was honored to receive third place for reporting at magazines and non-daily newspapers. Emma Green of The Atlantic won first place, while Tiffany Stanley of the Washington Post Magazine earned second place.
My entry portfolio included these three stories from The Christian Chronicle:
• Tears and fears: Church teen killed by Arkansas police (reporting from North Little Rock, Ark.): Loved ones struggle to understand why 17-year-old opened fire during traffic stop.
• Marshall Keeble’s ‘boy preachers’ still baptizing and saving souls (reporting from Los Angeles): Famous traveling evangelist mentored many of the most influential African-American ministers in Churches of Christ.
• 18 wheels and a heart to serve (reporting from Panama City, Fla.): After Hurricane Michael, a retired Christian steers a big rig full of food and emergency supplies to hard-hit Florida.
I was honored to win first place in this category in 2013. I have been an RNA contest finalist four other times with the Chronicle and twice with The Associated Press.
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• Oklahoma SPJ recognizes my stories with three first-place awards
• My stories honored with eight ACP ‘Best of the Church Press’ awards for 2018
• My profile of disaster relief truck driver wins first in two national contests
The Ross News 