On Saturday, Sept. 17, the Religion Newswriters Association gave its magazine news reporting award of the year to Christianity Today. This is the first year that CT has been able to participate in the RNA awards contest. Until recently, membership in RNA was limited to reporters who work for secular news outlets.
Sarah Pulliam Bailey entered CT’s October 2010 news section in the contest. Other finalists included the Christian Century, Newsweek, Moment, Duke Divinity, and Yale/Divinity.
CT’s news team is delighted by this award. Bailey commented: “The CT award is very exciting and places us within and next to mainstream religion sections. As traditional newspaper religion sections fade, places like CT are even more important.”
Multiple tips of the hat are due to staff members Jeremy Weber (who edited the section), Ted Olsen (for editorial wisdom, Spotlight and other features), Sarah Pulliam Bailey (for two articles), Alecia Sharp (for design), Trevor Persaud (for Gleanings and Under Discussion), and to regular CT contributors Ruth Moon, Ken Walker, and Rob Moll.
In other RNA news, CT Senior Writer Tony Carnes won the best enterprise/series award for his website A Journey Through NYC Religion. The RNA judges said, “This is what enterprise reporting is all about: a brilliantly informative series about religion in New York City.”