Doreen Ajiambo, GSR's Africa regional correspondent, won an Associated Church Press award of excellence for her reporting on floods in Kenya causing homelessness and ultimately refugees in their own country. Ajiambo was among a few Associated Church Press recipients at GSR and NCR. (GSR screenshot)
Global Sisters Report took home two awards, including a first place, and National Catholic Reporter took home another as the Associated Church Press wrapped up its annual conference May 2 with its awards ceremony for the best journalism in Christian media.
The contest drew more than 760 entries over its 90 categories. Each category honors first place with an Award of Excellence, second place with an Award of Merit, and third place with Honorable Mention. The entries are judged by Christian professionals from across the country.
Winning an Award of Excellence was GSR's Africa/Middle East correspondent Doreen Ajiambo for " 'Refugees in their own land': Kenyans experience homelessness due to severe floods" in the category of science writing for the world of faith. (Judges in that category did not comment on the award winners.)
An Honorable Mention went to GSR's Latin America correspondent Rhina Guidos for "On US-Mexico border pilgrimage, sisters ponder response to migrant hardships" in the national reporting — short format category.
Judges wrote of Guidos' story, "Really nice description of the sisters' journey and their reflections on what they saw. Nice quotes to help the reader get to know the sisters."
An Honorable Mention also went to NCR staff reporter Katie Collins Scott for "Catholics among key backers of SCOTUS ruling that threatens environmental rules" in the in-depth coverage category.
"Well written and researched from a number of angles and over a long period of time," judges wrote. "This is what in-depth coverage looks like in a single long-form article."
Advertisement
In separate honors, Chris Herlinger, GSR's international correspondent, won three DeRose-Hinkhouse Memorial Awards by the Religion Communicators Council.
In the category of writing for periodicals, Herlinger won best in class for reporting in 2024 from Central and Eastern Europe, including Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia.
One of the judges said: "Emotionally engaging and historically educational, this series is mesmerizing. The stories of the sisters bring our humanity into focus and completing the series with the interfaith article is a beautiful way to be inclusive in that humanity and faith in the Divine."
In the category of nonfiction book for adults, Herlinger won an award of excellence for his 2024 book Solidarity and Mercy: The Power of Christian Humanitarian Efforts in Ukraine, published by Morehouse. That book is based on reporting for Global Sisters Report and National Catholic Reporter.
In the category of newspaper article or story, single work, Herlinger won an award of merit for reporting in GSR on land justice issues that centered on the growing relationships with sister congregations in New York state and Indigenous communities.
The DeRose-Hinkhouse Memorial Awards are named to honor the late Victor DeRose and the late Paul M. Hinkhouse, leading lithographers in New York and longtime friends of the Religion Communicators Council. The Religion Communicators Council is an association of faith-based journalists and communications professionals. It held its annual convention April 24-26 in Salt Lake City.
