The Four Corners Free Press received four awards in the Society of Professional Journalists’ 2021 Top of the Rockies competition.
The contest, which is for work done in 2020, includes different types of media outlets (including newspapers and radio) in four states: Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Wyoming.
The Free Press was entered in a division for small newsrooms, which included more than 20 other media operations. The awards were:
- First place to Carolyn Dunmire for arts and entertainment/food criticism, for her “Foodie” columns.
Dunmire, who has placed first in this category for the past several years, was recognized for columns headlined “Summer of love,” “In good taste,” and “Becoming a red-dirt gourmet.”
In their comments, the judges wrote, “Carolyn Dunmire finds unique ways to write about food despite a pandemic. The judges enjoyed the ‘living like hippies’ reference!”
• Second place to editor Gail Binkly for her editorials. The particular entries were headlined “Crying wolf,” “Our heads in the clouds,” and “A sorry chapter.”
• Third place to Janneli F. Miller in the agriculture and environment news category for her article about the drought. Titled, “Going dry?”, it was published in November 2020.
• Third place to Zach Hively in personal/humor columns for his pieces titled “Running on empty,” “The word of the day,” and “His name was Phroomf.”
