Sports department earns 4 national awards
The Star-Bulletin sports department was honored with four national awards yesterday when Associated Press Sports Editors ranked it among the top papers in the country in four categories for 2006.
The Star-Bulletin -- competing in its APSE-contest division of about 100 newspapers with circulations of 40,000-100,000 -- was honored for Special Section, Daily Section, Column Writing and Breaking News.
For the fourth consecutive year, a Star-Bulletin UH season-preview magazine was named by APSE as one of the 10 best special sections in the country among newspapers its size.
This year the Star-Bulletin also earned APSE honorable-mention honors for its daily sports section. Judging was based on overall impact, graphics and content. Daily Section entries included randomly picked dates, to ensure consistency, as well as each paper's best work. The designation puts the Star-Bulletin among the 20 best daily sections in the country, according to APSE.
Two Star-Bulletin writers, Dave Reardon and Kalani Simpson, also cracked national top 10s in Breaking News and Column Writing, respectively.
Reardon broke the story that the NFL could play the Pro Bowl somewhere other than Hawaii, possibly as soon as this upcoming season. It was noted as one of the top sports stories of the day by ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption," which cited the newspaper report. (Since that news came to light, the NFL has decided it does not intend to play the game at a destination other than Hawaii, at least through its current contract.)
Simpson was honored for a selection of his "Sidelines" columns. He was previously honored by APSE for column writing for his work in 2004.
The Star-Bulletin has now earned national recognition from APSE for five straight years.