Houstonian Wins Top Houston Press Club Award

The coverage of a tragic event involving a Sam Houston State University student has earned the university's campus newspaper a first place award.

Houstonian editor Shawn Farrell and his staff won first place in the student print category of the Houston Press Club's 2007 Lone Star Awards recognition. The award was presented June 8 at the Hilton Hotel on the University of Houston campus.

The winning entry was headlined "She Saved His Life--Then He Killed Her." It included stories relating to the December 2006 death of SHSU student Rachel Pendray.

"This winning entry's as much about teamwork as it is the execution of the final package," the judges wrote. "Shawn Farrell, the editor, quickly assembled a pool of reporters, which in turn, covered the key angles of the murder very well considering the one-day turnaround on deadline."

Among the reporters listed on The Houstonian's online archives site who had by-lined stories relating to the tragedy were Gina Pereira, Rachel Gleason, Linda Wollard, Amy Megill, and Kristen and Courtney Lundgren.

Attending the awards presentation were Gleason and the Lundgrens as well as current editor Kenny Bybee, Christi Laney and Houstonian adviser Michael Blackman.

The Houstonian also won second place in the "Breaking News Category" of the Region 8 Society of Professional Journalists for their coverage of that story. Region 8 includes all colleges in Texas and Oklahoma.

Farrell, who now works for the Galveston County Daily News, also won four awards from the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association (TIPA), including two firsts for front page and feature page design.

Other TIPA firsts went to Gleason, Courtney and Kristen Lundgren, Megill, Wollard, Kristin Edwards, Jack Ivy and Sally Hofmeister.

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SHSU Media Contact: Frank Krystyniak
July 2, 2007
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