Chad Parries

So Salem is pleased to announce that Chad Parries is our new Salem community journalist.

He’s new to us, but not new to Salem.

He graduated from Glenvar High School and Virginia Tech. He interned with Salem’s Parks and Recreation Department and also has served as a coach in the parks and rec program.

You can reach Chad at chad.parries@sosalem.com or 981-3342.

He’ll also hold “office hours” every Wednesday morning at the Mill Mountain Coffee & Tea in downtown Salem.

Know of something happening around Salem you think we should cover? Let Chad know!

We celebrated journalism — and The Roanoke Times’ journalists who produce it — Thursday when we had handed out our annual in-house Landmark Awards (named after our parent company). As I’ve written in past years on this blog, it’s one of my favorite days of the year. First place winners earn $1,000 and second place winners get $250. These awards are based on a body of work from 2012, not just a single story or photo. In the writing categories, for instance, reporters had to submit 10 stories from last year. I’m also thankful for the judges — editors and professors from around the country noted with each category — who gave their time to pick our winners. Their comments are included here along with the list of winners. Click here to read about Ellen Moseley, the winner of our Rugaber Prize, which was also presented Thursday.

Judge — Pam Luecke, professor and head of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communications at Washington and Lee University

First place: Laurence Hammack | His reporting is deep and impressive, and the entry included several instances of dogged pursuit of material through the use of Freedom of Information requests. Several of his pieces were advances of court cases but he consistently identified and developed thoroughly a fascinating angle.  He also displays a knack for telling a story in a way that holds the reader’s interest and doesn’t get bogged down by his considerable interviews and documents.

Second place: Chase Purdy | His ledes crackle. His entry included several court-based stories, and he too marshaled the facts of the cases into highly readable narratives.

Features reporting and writing

Judges Tom Popson and Denise Joyce. Popson and Joyce both retired after long careers working as editors in the Chicago Tribune features department.

First place: Dan Casey | He comes across as a champion of the little guy; he spins a good yarn while providing “who knew?” information.  What caught our attention with Dan, a columnist, was his willingness to pick up the phone rather than just commenting on the story at hand.

Second place: Ralph Berrier |Love letters hidden in a shotgun, a donkey with a prosthetic leg, a profusion of valedictorians, a collector of old phonographs — an eclectic assortment of topics indeed, and all handled adeptly by Ralph.

Sports reporting and writing

Judge: Kevin Winters Morriss, assistant sports editor for the Salt Lake Tribune.

First place: Mark Taylor | I liked his style and the rhythm he established in his columns and stories. He does a good job of painting a picture of what’s happening and makes the reader feel like he or she is part of the story. His outdoors columns invite the reader to share in the adventure instead of preaching about the outdoors. Some of his observations that he injects into stories help feed that feeling of being a part of the story.

Second place: Andy Bitter | I really enjoyed his storytelling on the Worsham story. It kept my attention by sharing a lot of minor details that make the story strong. It’s obvious a lot of time went into telling the story. I also liked that he showed he’s able to go beyond game coverage with the Exum story. It’s a neat little read.

Read more »

Ellen Moseley, an editor and project manager in the newsroom, is the winner of this year’s Rugaber Prize (named after former publisher Walter Rugaber), awarded annually to a staff member in our newsroom whose work in the previous year “displayed, day in and day out, an intense curiosity, a depth of understanding, and an enterprising drive to discover unique and significant stories.” (Click here for a full list of awards presented Thursday.)

For the past year, Moseley (pictured accepting the award from Publisher Debbie Meade and Editor Carole Tarrant) has dedicated her work life to helping us launch a new content management system and redesign roanoke.com. We rolled out the beta version of our new Web site several months ago and we continue to tweak and enhance it every day.

Moseley joined The Roanoke Times in 2001 as the newsroom office manager and quickly developed a passion for journalism. She’s worked as a designer, a copy editor, copy desk team leader, and now as the project manager for the Web site. In presenting the award to Moseley on Thursday, editor Carole Tarrant noted that Moseley’s varied career has prepared her for the challenges facing journalism as we continue to evolve in the digital age.

“Our awardee started out her professional life as a teacher, then took on the sorry task of trying to manage this newsroom. She’s adapted many more times since then, but I believe she’s now found her home, one where she can contribute fully to us building that audience and ensuring The Roanoke Times arrives on our doorsteps, on our iPads, on our phones or, who knows – Google glasses – next.”

We’ve awarded the Rugaber Prize since 2000. Previous winners are:

2000 Dwayne Yancey

2001 Josh Meltzer

2002 Mike Allen

2003 Kelly Hahn Johnson

2004 Wayne Deel

2005 Seth Gitner

2006 Rob Lunsford

2007 Laurence Hammack

2008 Tad Dickens

2009 Cathy Benson

2010 Stephanie Ogilvie

2011 Brian Kelley

Follow Tiffany Holland on Twitter: @thollandRT

Only two hours into her first day in our newsroom, night police reporter Tiffany Holland was already covering her first story — a nasty fire in Hollins.

Learn more about this Tennessee fan in our Q&A:

Tiffany Holland
tiffany.holland@roanoke.com
(540) 981-3264
@thollandRT

Hometown: Covington, Tennessee. Covington is just north of Memphis and sits near the Mississippi River.

College: University of Tennessee in Knoxville. I therefore own a lot of orange clothes, including a custom-made orange and white seersucker dress with a matching hat that I once wore to the Kentucky Derby.

Why journalism: My favorite thing to do is tell people stories about anything and everything. So it just made sense that I would pick a career centered around going to different places and then telling everyone about what happened there.

Years in journalism: Almost four not including college.

Other newsrooms where you have worked: I spent two years at the Danville Register & Bee in Danville covering politics and education. And before that I spent a year at The Leader, a small newspaper in rural Tennessee covering city hall and state politics. I also worked at my college newspaper, The Daily Beacon.

Proudest journalism accomplishments: Anytime I write anything that actually changes something.  Also, I once got to interview Gloria Steinem and she told me about the ’60s. It was awesome.

Journalists you admire and why: Roger Ebert — I read his movie reviews since I was 10 and he was always very unpretentious. Thomas Wolfe because of the way he could paint a picture of something with words. I always had a soft spot for Katie Couric.

Websites you visit regularly: Other than the social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, I read tons of newspaper sites, especially in places I have lived like the Commercial Appeal, Knoxville News Sentinel and the New York Times and Washington Post. I read Slate, Gawker and Buzzfeed a lot as well. I never thought I would read a sports blog habitually, but I always check out Outkick the Coverage, an SEC football blog by Clay Travis, because it’s funny and original. Oh — and any web link with a collage of cat pictures will make my day.

Favorite books: “Lord of the Flies” and “Revolutionary Road” are great but I only read them once because they are so depressing. “Peyton Place” by Grace Metalious for its depiction of small town life. “The Help” and “Game Change” are probably the most entertaining books I’ve read in the past five years. I also read a lot of biographies.

Favorite movies: “Working Girl” because it always puts me in a good mood. Also “City of God,” “Sideways,” and any horror movie, even bad ones. My father was a film professor, so I have very eclectic movie tastes. I will watch anything depending on my mood. My guilty pleasure movie is definitely “Titanic,” which I have shamelessly seen in theaters several times, including last year when it came out in 3D.

Interests outside of work: Tailgating, movie reviews, the Tennessee Vols, theme parties, traveling, cats, visiting historic locations, getting lost on wikipedia. And I will basically go out to eat anywhere since the only two foods I don’t like and actively avoid are yogurt and Skittles.

Interesting fact about you that few know: I live by a piece of advice my mother once gave me: “You may not be able to sing or dance or do math very well, but always know how to work a room. And send thank-you notes.” I also haven’t had TV in about three years.

Reporter Beth Macy has won a $30,000 prize for an upcoming book about the effects of globalization on Southwest Virginia furniture manufacturing. Her book, “Factory Man,” focuses on Galax furniture heir John D. Bassett III, who was also a subject in her 2012 Roanoke Times series, “Picking Up the Pieces.”

The Little, Brown & Co. book is scheduled to be published next year. Columbia University today announced Macy had won the J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Award. It “is given annually to aid in the completion of a significant work of nonfiction on a topic of American political or social concern. Recognizing that a nonfiction book based on extensive original research often overtaxes the resources available to its author, the project envisions the award as a way of closing the gap between the time and money an author has and the time and money that finishing a book requires,” according to Columbia.

Macy is nearing the end of a yearlong leave from the newspaper as she completes the book. She has written for  The Roanoke Times since 1989 and won numerous national and state awards, including serving as a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University during the 2009-2010 academic year.

Joel Hawksley

Joel Hawksley
@hawksleyphoto

Hometown: Kent, Ohio

College, major: Ohio University, visual communication/photojournalism

Why journalism? I love the ability a picture has to tell a story in ways words can not, and how I get to serve as the eyes of our readership every day.

Years in journalism: Just under one year professionally (since graduating from Ohio University in June 2012), but I worked at  The Post, Ohio University’s student newspaper.

Years at The Roanoke Times | roanoke.com: This is my second week on the job.

Other newsrooms where you have worked: I worked as a staff photographer and picture editor at The Post while at Ohio and spent several years working as the chief photographer for the school’s athletic department. After graduation, I worked at The Southern Illinoisan in Carbondale, Ill., until accepting the position here in Roanoke.

Proudest journalism accomplishments: I am really proud of the work I did writing and photographing a story on a nonprofit organization that trains service dogs for veterans with PTSD. I really enjoyed being able to take the time to cover an in-depth story that showed how the community was working to support the needs of veterans in a new and innovative way.

Journalists you admire and why: I regularly look at the work of photojournalists Doug Mills (New York Times), Ross Taylor (The Virginian-Pilot), and Dave Weatherwax (Jasper Herald). Their work inspires and motivates me to improve my skills as both a photographer and journalist.

Websites you visit regularly: I use my Twitter feed as my main news source and save longer stories to Pocket to read when I have time throughout the day. I also follow Jim Romensko’s blog and the Poynter news feed.

Favorite books: Freakonomics and Nate Silver’s The Signal and the Noise

Interests outside of work: I enjoy playing tennis and biking around town. I also spend time working on various web projects, including a portfolio platform I use to build sites for fellow photographers.

Interesting fact about you that few know: I’ve been hit by a car twice, on the same road. I was not seriously injured either time.

For many folks across The Roanoke Times, 2012 was dominated by redesigning — and re-imagining — roanoke.com.

During our annual newsroom staff meeting Wednesday, editor Carole Tarrant and multimedia producer Ryan Loew presented this 8-minute video, which took a quick look back at our highlights of 2012.

But more importantly, you’ll hear our top editors and staffers look ahead to the redesigned website, which we hope to unveil next week. Enjoy!

If school news matters to you and your family, then you must bookmark Annie McCallum’s new Learning Lines blog.

McCallum is our new education reporter, and she’ll be covering K-12 education in the Roanoke Valley.

“You should know that I am wildly, emphatically (sometimes annoyingly) passionate about education,” she writes in her first blog post.

McCallum invites your questions, comments and news tips in her blog comments and by email.

Get to know her in our video intro above, or read more about her background here. Be sure to follow McCallum on Twitter, too: @anniemccallum.

Reporter David Ress attends a Roanoke City Council meeting. Photo by Matt Chittum

We are happy to welcome veteran reporter David Ress to our newsroom today to cover Roanoke city hall and politics.

David has been the local editor of The News Leader in Staunton since 2010 and is happy to return to reporting a beat.

David was an investigative reporter, business reporter and projects editor for the Richmond Times-Dispatch for many years, and also has reported for The Star Ledger in Newark, the Daily Press in Newport News, The Baltimore Sun and Reuters.

He will contribute regularly to the Blue Ridge Caucus blog.

Thanks for brightening up our newsroom, Danielle.

How often do you take for granted some of the hospitality chores around your office?

For instance, do you know who is responsible for decorating for the holidays?

In our newsroom, Danielle Dunaway (@danielledunaway) took it upon herself to not only put up a Christmas tree and Hanukkah menorah in our reception area, but she crafted garland and snowflakes out of newspapers, too. It makes me smile every time I step out of the elevators.

These are the small touches that brighten our routine work days — and it’s only one part of Danielle’s job as newsroom editorial assistant.

If you’ve ever called our newsroom’s main phone line with a tip or complaint, you’ve probably spoken with Danielle.  She also writes various stories; takes photos, updates the Ticker, Botetourt View, So Salem and SWoCo blogs; tweets; and compiles lists of events and announcements, including Your Community Calendar, Names and Changes, the Next 21 Days, and almost all planners and calendars found in the community publications.

Danielle Dunaway: Editorial assistant for the newsroom and community publications

Hometown: Covington

College: Virginia Tech, B.A. Mass Communication; Dabney S. Lancaster Community College, associate degree in General Studies; Virginia Western Community College, where I took one photography class with our lovely Stephanie Klein-Davis.

Why journalism: Back when I was in high school, I had a Live Journal (livejournal.com), where I would blog my “exciting” teenage life, opinions and post pictures. After describing in great detail about an ordeal where I was with a friend who got her car stuck in the mud while trying to covertly drive by a boy’s house, someone commented on the post, saying that I should go into journalism. It stuck with me when it came time to pick a major. It was a brilliant (and probably obvious) observation. I could combine my love of writing with my love of photography to make a living.

Years in journalism: Almost seven years, counting time put in with internships and producing photos for the newspaper and yearbook in college.

Years at The Roanoke Times | roanoke.com: Almost five years. Four years in the editorial department, one year in the newsroom and several years with the community publications.

Other newsrooms where you have worked: Virginian Review in Covington, where I worked as a staff reporter.

Proudest journalism accomplishments: Recently, I went to a Misfits concert in Roanoke. I went out purely to have fun. From my fun spawned an opportunity to have a guest post on the cut’n’scratch blog. I got to write about music and have my photos displayed, both of which are pretty huge to me. I also had a tweet about my blog post retweeted by Misfits Records and the Misfits themselves.

Journalists you admire and why: Jon Stewart. I enjoy his snark and how he presents the news. I also find him trustworthy.

Websites you visit regularly: Aside from Roanoke.com, facebook.com, twitter.com, weather.com, npr.org, huffingtonpost.com, pinterest.com, rollingstone.com, postsecret.com, dearphotograph.com, amazon.com, lifehacker.com, tumblr.com, grumpycats.com and digital-photography-school.com.

Favorite books: “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky. “Five Against One: The Pearl Jam Story” by Kim Neely. “Virgin Suicides” by  Jeffrey Eugenides. “Bossypants” by Tina Fey.  All of the Post Secret books by Frank Warren. “I’m a Lebowski, You’re a Lebowski” by Ben Peskoe, Bill Green, Scott Shuffitt  and Will Russell.

Favorite movies: “Angus,” “Interview with the Vampire”, “Clerks,” “The Big Lebowski.”

Interests outside of work: Photography, photo editing, collecting vintage cameras, vintage … anything, music, arts and crafts, food, cars, all things Kevin Smith, fashion and cleaning.

Interesting fact about you that few know: I worked for Advance Auto Parts for almost eight years. I’m proud of the fact that I can change batteries, test alternators and starters, and know various facts about diagnosing car troubles.

(Danielle also makes a killer bacon mac’n'cheese, which won top honors in our newsroom’s annual holiday potluck. Find the recipe here.)