The Environmental Journal of Southern Appalachia

Displaying items by tag: hellbender press awards

Team coverage of Sept. 27 disaster spanned three devastated East Tennessee watersheds

KNOXVILLE — Hellbender Press continued its tradition of excellence in journalism in 2024 with award-winning coverage of the unprecedented disaster spawned by Tropical Storm Helene in the Southern Appalachians.

Editor and Publisher Thomas Fraser and writer and reporter John Stambaugh accepted the awards at an East Tennessee Society of Professional Journalists downtown banquet in May.

The society sponsors the competition each year to recognize the best journalism in East Tennessee published in 2024. This year’s contest was judged by the Oklahoma Society of Professional Journalists.

Hellbender Press received three first-place awards in the digital-only category, all related to Helene: Hurricane Helene Breaking Coverage; Deadline/Breaking News Reporting; and Series/Package/Project Writing.

Two of the judges drew parallels with news coverage of other historic events. 

Published in News