The 66th annual awards from the Religion Newswriters Association were announced in Philadelphia on August 29.
Laurie Goodstein of The New York Times received the first-place award for excellence in religion reporting:
“There are days when I feel despair about the news and the place of religion in it… This work is getting harder.”
The Religion News Service has published a story with a list of the winners, which included David Gibson of the RNS, who won first place for excellence in religion news analysis:
“Religion writers are crucial in providing a deeper historical, cultural, political and theological framework,” said Gibson.
“The industry’s woes and the amount of news and the subject matter can weigh heavily,” Gibson added. “But then stories like the pontificate of Pope Francis and the response to him of so many people of good faith, and no faith at all, can provide a whole new perspective.”
Reporters and commentators recognized were from publications from the national to the local, including newspapers, magazines, podcasts, television, film, books, college publications and online publications including the New York Times, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, CNN Belief, Buzzfeed and WGBH and Maya Vision.