NCBA Presents 2010 Media and the Law Awards

Article Date: Thursday, March 18, 2010

Written By: Russell Rawlings

Best Series winners Mandy Locke, left, and Sarah Ovaska accept awards NCPA President David Woronoff and John Wester, right.

The 2010 North Carolina Bar Association Media and the Law Awards were presented Wednesday evening, March 18, in conjunction with the winter institute of the N.C. Press Association in Chapel Hill

NCBA President John R. Wester presented the awards. The ceremony was held in the Dean E. Smith Center on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The Media and the Law awards program was established in 1989 and is conducted annually by the NCBA Communications Committee. Judging is based on accurate, informative coverage of law-related issues which fosters greater public understanding of the legal system and the role of lawyers in society.

Nominations are submitted by member newspapers to the N.C. Press Association and forwarded to the Communications Committee for review. Law-related reporting is judged separately in the divisions of daily and nondaily newspapers, while the competition for best series is open.

NCBA President John Wester presents Media and the Law awards.

The recipient in the Nondaily Division was Tomas Murawski of The Alamance News. This marks the third consecutive year that an Alamance News reporter has received this award and the second time Murawski has been honored. The award-winning article appeared under the headline “Immigration protesters found guilty of blocking jail doorway.”

In selecting this article, the Communications Committee once again found favor with the reporter’s ability to convey complex legal matters in fair and straightforward manner. Mr. Murawski allowed all sides to be heard in his coverage, including Chief District Court Judge James K. Roberson, who told defendants that their right to protest did not entitle them to block a public entrance and exit.

Sarah Avery of The News & Observer is this year’s recipient in the Daily Newspaper Division. The winning article appeared beneath the headline “Lawsuits and Health Costs: Debate swirls on the effects of malpractice awards,” accompanied by the sidebar “Suing gave grieving mom a look at the truth.”

The articles provided a fresh look at an oft-covered subject, replete with updated statistics and comments from attorneys on both sides of the issue. An accompanying box of tort reform pros and cons provided further insight into an issue that has been under ongoing review by the North Carolina Bar Association for many years.

Sarah Ovaska and Mandy Locke of The News & Observer are this year’s recipients of the Media and the Law Award for Best Series. Their award-winning coverage, titled “Greg Taylor innocence,” dealt with the process through which Taylor’s case was referred to a three-judge panel by the N.C. Innocence Inquiry Commission. This was only the third case undertaken by the commission and the first to ultimately result in exoneration.

In their series, the reporters provided advance coverage of the historic hearings including expansive background on a man who went to prison in 1993 for a murder he did not commit, the three-judge panel recently ruled. They provided insight into Taylor’s troubled past, his life behind bars, and the personal losses he incurred during this time.