TOP OF THE ROCKIES
The Southern Ute Drum newspaper won a total of six newspaper awards this year from the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), with a mix of awards in videography, photography and general reporting for the print circulation category under 10,000. Winners were recently announced in a press release from SPJ.
Each year SPJ’s regional Top of the Rockies newspaper contest holds an awards ceremony at the Historic Denver Press Club, which was postponed due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic this spring.
The Southern Ute Drum staff worked hard last year as a newsroom; these awards reflect the Drum’s continued commitment and professionalism in covering the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and Indian Country.
Newspaper Editor, Jeremy Wade Shockley, garnered three awards in photography and reporting for his coverage of culture, technology and community, respectively. Shockley won second place in Science and Technology General Reporting for the article, “Does electric drive the future?,” a feature focused on electric vehicles and sustainable energy. He won third place in Feature Photography: Ute Tribe ushers in spring with Bear Dance and third place in News Photography: Shining light on domestic violence.
Public Relations Coordinator, Trennie Collins, won two first place awards for videography. First place in News Videography: Back to School Round Dance and first place in Feature Videography: 45th annual Denver March Powwow. Both vignettes ran on the Drum’s website and social media feeds, highlighting Native American dance — using the power of sound and motion to convey cultural traditions to an online audience.
The Southern Ute Drum’s sports reporter took home a first place win in Sports General Reporting for a feature titled, “Sangster on year one at Ignacio High School.”
Congrats to everyone at the Southern Ute Drum. It is always an honor to receive this kind of recognition from our peers in the field of journalism.