Herald’s Douglas wins S.C. journalist of the year

Herald reporter Anna Douglas was named the 2014 South Carolina Journalist of the Year by the S.C. Press Association on Saturday – one of 40 awards earned by The Herald, heraldonline.com, and its sister newspapers in Fort Mill, Lake Wylie and York.

For the fifth year in a row, heraldonline.com was recognized as the best news website, and The Herald won a second-place award for general excellence among newspapers of similar size.

“Our reason for coming to work every day is to report and deliver the very best in local news and information,” said Debbie Abels, president and publisher of The Herald, Fort Mill Times, Lake Wylie Pilot and Enquirer-Herald. “Readers are the ultimate judge of how well we do, but I couldn’t be prouder of our journalists.”

Douglas, 25, was recognized from among journalists nominated by newspapers across the state, regardless of size.

While citing her overall work, the judges primarily praised her reporting on Winthrop University, which last year focused on the brief but turbulent tenure of then-President Jamie Williamson. Douglas also played a key role in The Herald’s coverage of a State Law Enforcement Division investigation of the York police chief and his and other officers’ violation of the city’s police chase policy.

“Anna is passionate about journalism and our role as a community watchdog,” Herald Editor Paul Osmundson said. “While South Carolina has many outstanding journalists, I think Anna truly deserves this honor.”

Douglas reported that Williamson had granted pay hikes of up to 33 percent to several senior administrators without alerting the school’s Board of Trustees. She also reported that Williamson had approved a 40 percent increase in summer school tuition without informing students or faculty.

Additionally, Douglas reported that emails and other documents indicated Williamson was involved in the hiring of her husband for a temporary, part-time job in the president’s office. Other documents showed that some Winthrop staffers complained they had been bullied by Williamson.

After Douglas’ reporting on the hiring of Williamson’s husband, Winthrop trustees called a special meeting in June. At that meeting, Williamson was suspended, and the board gave notice it intended to fire her. Less than two weeks later, trustees fired her.

Douglas, who is now The Herald’s special projects reporter, also has led the newspaper’s coverage of the city of Rock Hill. The 2011 Winthrop University graduate is the former editor of the school’s student newspaper. She was the SCPA’s 2011 Collegiate Journalist of the Year.

In addition to the journalist of the year award, Douglas won two first-place awards for reporting in-depth and spot news reporting, two second-place awards for government beat reporting and spot news video, and a third-place award for her use of Twitter in reporting.

Other Herald journalists recognized by the press association on Saturday:

▪ Columnist Andrew Dys – three first-place awards for news feature writing, profile feature writing and sports column writing; two third-place awards for reporting in-depth and profile feature writing; and an honorable mention award for column writing.

▪ Assistant sports editor Bret McCormick – two first-place awards for sports enterprise reporting and sports feature writing.

▪ Reporter Rachel Southmayd – a first-place award for short story writing, a second-place award for spot news reporting, and a third-place award for sports feature writing.

▪ Business editor Don Worthington – a second-place award for health beat reporting, a third-place award for column writing, and an honorable mention award for news feature writing.

▪ Editorial page editor James Werrell – a third-place award for editorial writing.

▪ Reporter Bristow Marchant – an honorable mention award for government beat reporting.

▪ Photographer Jeff Sochko – an honorable mention award for feature photo.

▪ Former reporter Jonathan McFadden – two second-place awards for beat reporting and news feature writing.

▪ In addition to the best website and general excellence awards, The Herald won a second-place award for use of Facebook in reporting.

The Herald’s sister newspapers won a total of 12 awards:

▪ Fort Mill Times – four first-place awards for public service (editor Michael Harrison and reporter John Marks), use of Facebook page (Harrison), sports enterprise reporting (reporter Mac Banks) and humor column writing (Karen Tomas); two second-place awards for best website (Harrison) and in-depth reporting (Marks); and four third-place awards for faith beat reporting (Marks), spot sports story (Banks), feature magazine (Harrison) and use of Twitter (Harrison).

▪ Enquirer-Herald – a first-place award for series of articles (editor Jennifer Becknell, Catherine Muccigrosso, Marks).

▪ Lake Wylie Pilot – a second-place award for news headline writing (editor Muccigrosso).

This story was originally published March 14, 2015 at 7:00 PM with the headline "Herald’s Douglas wins S.C. journalist of the year."