Minnesota Independent wins journalism prizes for coverage of Christian ministry, Obama rally

The Minnesota Independent took home three prizes — including two first place awards — at the Minnesota Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalist’s Page One Awards banquet. The Friday night dinner, featuring a colorful keynote by “The Wire” creator David Simon, saw reporter Andy Birkey take home his first Page One Award for best continuing coverage of the controversial Christian ministry You Can Run But You Cannot Hide (YCRBYH). Photographer Kathy Easthagen won a first for best spot news photo for her photo-essay on Barack Obama’s healthcare reform rally in September.

Of Birkey’s series, which looks at concerns about the separation of church and state raised by YCRBYCH’s work with public school children, judges wrote:

In conscientious, thought-provoking reportage on ‘a controversial ministry that holds Christian assemblies in public schools,’ the reporter takes a deep-dive with an even-handed approach into a weighty subject sure to provoke controversy from various standpoints. Leads readers to think about serious public policy and constitutional issues.

Because there’s no awards category for online photography, photographer Easthagen competed with newspapers with circulations of under 50,000, delivering “good coverage from Obama’s health care rally,” judges noted.

The Minnesota Independent also won a second place prize for best website (online); the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal won 1st place, while MinnPost.com took third.

The Minnesota Independent has won 15 SPJ awards since its founding in August 2006, including one in 2007 (the first in SPJ history won by an online-only journalist), 3 in 2008 and 8 in 2009. Here’s the full listing of 2010 Page One Winners.