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Star reporter wins McClatchy award

Carmen George wins president's award for story about Chukchansi disenrollments

-- Staff report

(Updated: Thursday, February 16, 2012, 2:45 PM)

Sierra Star reporter Carmen George won a McClatchy President's Award in the annual community newspaper competition designed to recognize the best journalism of The McClatchy Company's 44 non-daily papers nationwide.

George won first place in the news category for her Sept. 29 story titled "Chukchansi issues disenrollment letters" regarding efforts of leaders at the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians to remove members from the tribe.

The annual President's Awards are the highest employee honors given by The McClatchy Company.

"The Chukchansi Indians' move to disenroll tribal members caught the attention of reporter Carmen George, who documented its efforts and put them into context in a comprehensive story that thrust this far-reaching topic into public view," stated a release from McClatchy.

"Her dogged reporting included interviews with 13 people affected, leading experts in American Indian affairs and reviews of a wide range of tribal and federal documents. The story linked the disenrollment to tribal officials' desire to increase their share of casino profits, limit membership geographically and deal with old grudges.

"George also took care to document the emotional and financial toll of the tribe's actions on those affected. Months later, The New York Times and Associated Press addressed the same issue."

Since September, George has written eight additional stories about Chukchansi disenrollments and controversy over a recent tribal council election that has split the tribal leadership.

"I want to accept this award on behalf of the many brave Chukchansi people who have shared their tribe and family's stories with me over the past months," George said. "Their voices are helping to shine light on a huge issue, not only at Chukchansi, but statewide and nationally for all American Indian people who are members of tribes with casinos."

Eight McClatchy newspapers collected 10 President's Awards, which honor work published in 2011.

Second place in the news category went to O'Fallon Progress (Illinois) editor Daniel Kelley for his series of articles on tax exemption abuse.

Various McClatchy editors and executives judged the community newspaper competition this year. Judges included Manny Garcia, executive editor and general manager at El Nuevo Herald in Miami, Fla.; Stan Tiner, vice president and executive editor at the Sun Herald in Biloxi, Miss.; Vicki Gowler, editor and vice president at the Idaho Statesman in Boise, Idaho; Sandra Duerr, vice president and executive editor at The Tribune in San Luis Obispo; Peter Baniak, editor and vice president at the Lexington Herald-Leader in Kentucky; and Mark Zieman, McClatchy vice president, operations.

Other President Award winners were:

Vida en el Valle, a bilingual weekly published by the Fresno Bee won two prizes. The paper took first place in the special projects category for a six-part, multimedia series looking at teen pregnancy among Latinos titled "The Youngest Parents" by Rebecca Plevin, and first place in the sports category for a story on Oswaldo Lopez, a mariachi trumpet player and hazmat worker who won the grueling, 135-mile Badwater Ultramarathon in Death Valley in July, titled "El Rey de Badwater" by Juan Esparza Loera.

Vide en el Valle's also won an honorable mention for a photo taken by Hector Navejas of a Mexican Independence Day celebration showcasing a brightly lit Mexican flag with the California Capitol building in the background and the crowd celebrating.

The Chapel Hill News, a twice-weekly published in North Carolina, also won two President's Awards, sweeping the features category with first and second place finishes. The paper took first for its "spellbinding account" of William Michael Dillon, incarcerated in prison for 28 years before DNA evidence exonerated him in 2009. The paper won second place in features for a compelling portrait of Raymond McDaniel, living in a Carborro, N.C., a group home for people with AIDS.

The McClatchy Company is a leading news and information provider, offering a wide array of print and digital products in each of the markets it serves. As the third largest newspaper company in the country, McClatchy's operations include 30 daily newspapers, community newspapers, websites, mobile news and advertising, niche publications, direct marketing and direct mail services. The company's largest newspapers include The Miami Herald, The Sacramento Bee, the Fort Worth StarTelegram, The Kansas City Star, The Charlotte Observer and The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C.