NEWSPAPER EARNS TOP HONORS

For the second year in a row, the Southeast Missourian walked away with top honors for news and sports reporting when the Associated Press handed out its awards Saturday at the annual convention of newspaper editors.

Top accolades for spot news went to staff writers Peggy O'Farrell and Peggy Scott for their December 1997 reports on the permanent affiliation talks between Southeast Missouri Hospital and St. Francis Medical Center.

O'Farrell wrote the lead story, "Cape hospitals may affiliate," which detailed many of the emerging issues of the possible affiliation. Scott wrote an accompanying story about two hospitals in Owensboro, Ky., that were successful in their merger.

Sports writer Marty Mishow captured both the highest and the runner-up awards for spot sports reporting for two closely related stories on the firing of former Southeast Missouri State University head basketball coach Ron Shumate.

Mishow's story, "SEMO fires Coach Ron Shumate," walked away with top honors, while his follow-up story, "The fax: Shumate learned of fate second-hand," was awarded second place in its category by the Associated Press.

In the two stories Mishow described the events leading up to the dismissal of the winningest coach in the university's history.

Relations between the university and its employees also were the focus of Mark Bliss' story, "Settlement secrets." In the story, Bliss detailed some of the settlement terms in federal lawsuits brought against Southeast Missouri State University by former employees. Many of the settlement terms have been closely guarded secrets.

The Southeast Missourian was also honored for its community affairs reporting with second and third place honors.

The newspaper won second place in community affairs reporting for its series "Quality of Life." The series, which was based on findings from a report issued by the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce, ran on eight consecutive days last May. The in-depth series examined government, economics, education, environment, recreation, health and public safety in the city, pointing both city's strengths and weaknesses.

Mentioned in particular for the series were current reporters Mark Bliss, Tamara Zellers Buck and B. Ray Owen, as well as former staff members David Angier, Benjamin Israel, Julia Stanley Kridelbaugh and Scott Moyers.

The staff of the Southeast Missourian was also recognized for their continuing coverage of the "Crime Stoppers" in Cape Girardeau.

The contest, which drew 203 entries from 19 newspapers across the state, included three separate divisions for large, midsize and small newspapers. The Southeast Missourian was in the second or midsize division, which included newspapers from 15,000 to 50,000 population.

The awards were presented Saturday during the annual convention of Associated Press Managing Editors and the Missouri Society of Newspaper Editors.