DOWNTOWN LAS VEGAS, NV — National Geographic Traveler, Outside magazine and the New York Times are the top media winners in the 2015 Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition, overseen by the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation.

Freelance writer Todd Pitock of Philadelphia is Travel Journalist of the Year for his wide range of reports, from Botswana to Amsterdam's Anne Frank House, the U.S. Whiskey Trail and Denver's beer breweries. “Pitock demonstrates not only a tremendous grasp of thick description but also an uncanny ability to bring meaning to his travel writing,” wrote judges from the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Also honored for Grand Award travel portfolios were freelance writers Tim Neville of Bend, OR; Christopher Solomon of Seattle; and Melanie Radzicki McManus of Sun Prairie, WI, a suburb of Madison.

National Geographic Traveler won seven awards, including the Gold as Best Travel Magazine. “The magazine inspires readers,” said a judge. National Geographic Books took a Gold, for Best Guidebook, on Peru, by Rob Rachowiecki, with photography by Vance Jacobs.

Outside magazine won eight awards, including three Golds in the categories of Travel News/Investigative Reporting, Cultural Tourism and Travel Journalism Websites. Travel + Leisure and Afar magazines each won three awards. Departures won Gold for best travel coverage in other magazines. 

Among newspapers, the New York Times won six awards, including Gold for Best Travel Section and Golds in the categories of U.S. and Canadian Travel, Adventure Travel and Personal Comment. The San Francisco Chronicle won Gold for Best Travel Section with a circulation of less than 350,000. Other newspapers honored were the Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, Seattle Times and The Plain Dealer (Cleveland). Judges praised sections for the local voice given readers through regular staff-written coverage.

The Lowell Thomas awards, recognized as the most prestigious in travel journalism, were announced in Downtown Las Vegas at the annual conference of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW), the premier professional organization of travel journalists and communicators.

The competition, for work from spring 2014 to spring 2015, drew 1,406 entries, a near record. This year, the SATW Foundation is giving 82 awards in 24 categories and nearly $20,000 in prize money to journalists.

“This is quite an amazing contest,” said John Fennell, an associate professor at University of Missouri who holds the Meredith Chair in Service Journalism. He praised “the quality of the writing, the editing and the overall packaging evidenced in the entries ... Like a multi-faceted prism with which to view the world, this year's entries demonstrate that there are no finer writers working today.”

Among the Gold winners were Andrew McCarthy for Foreign Travel, “Untamed Ireland,” in Travel + Leisure; Brian Peterson for Photo Illustration of a “Wild World in Bloom,” in the Star Tribune (Minneapolis); Air Canada enRoute for Special Packages/Projects, “Canada's Best New Restaurants 2014;” Andrew Sessa for Cruise Travel in the fjords of Norway in the Houston Chronicle; Elizabeth Weil for Adventure Travel, “The Woman Who Walked 10,000 Miles (No Exaggeration) in Three Years,” in the New York Times Magazine; Grayson Schaffer for Investigative Reporting in Nepal in Outside; Sunset Magazine for Service-Oriented Consumer Work, “The Procrastinator's Survival Guide to Summer Travel;” Austin Merrill for Environmental Tourism, “Into the Arctic,” in Departures; Patrick Symmes for Cultural Tourism on saving manuscripts from the Jihadists in Timbuktu, in Outside; Sarah Khan for Personal Comment on India, “Once a Land of Princes and Palaces,” in the New York Times; David Farley for Special-Purpose Travel, “Ashes to Ashes” in Varanasi, India, in Afar; and Mary Bergin for Short Work on Travel, about bratwurst in Nuremberg, in the Chicago Tribune. 

Gold for best travel blog, for the second year in a row, went to ThePlanetD.com. “Readers can sense the passion of this blog's owners in every one of the carefully crafted posts,” wrote the judges. “They combine a light-hearted, conversational writing style with stunning photography.”  The Silver winner was LegalNomads.com. VoyageVixens.com won bronze.

Best travel video Gold winner was Rick Steves, “The Holy Land: Israelis and Palestinians Today,” on American Public Television. Rudy Maxa won Gold for Audio Travel Broadcast with “Rudy Maxa's World: June 2014,” syndicated radio travel show.

Winning best travel book was Karen Berger, “America's Great Hiking Trails,” with photography by Bart Smith, for Rizzoli International Publications.

The awards are named for Lowell Thomas, acclaimed broadcast journalist, prolific author and world explorer during five decades in travel journalism. The competition is open to all North American journalists.

“We thank this year's many supporters who help sustain this contest to recognize and reward outstanding travel journalism, led by a generous donation from Carnival Corp,” said David G. Molyneaux, SATW Foundation president.

 

 

SATW FOUNDATION

LOWELL THOMAS TRAVEL JOURNALISM COMPETITION

Awards for Work Published in 2014-2015

 

Faculty members of the Missouri School of Journalism judged the competition, with Prof. John Fennell,

Prof. Jennifer Rowe and administrative assistant Kim Townlain coordinating. There were 1,406 entries,

a near record high. In the following list of winners, numbers in parentheses denote number of entries

in the category. For questions, contact: Mary Lu Abbott, SATW Foundation administrator, 281-217-2872,

or awards@satwf.com. The results, along with judges' comments, also may be viewed online at the

Foundation website, www.satwf.com. 

 

Category 101: Grand Award — Lowell Thomas Travel Journalist of the Year (40)

Gold:   Todd Pitock, freelance writer

Silver: Tim Neville, freelance writer

Bronze:           Christopher Solomon, freelance writer

Honorable Mention: Melanie Radzicki McManus, freelance writer

 

Category 102: Newspaper Travel Sections/Coverage (10)

102A — Newspapers with 350,000 or more circulation

Gold:   The New York Times, Monica Drake, Travel Editor

Silver: The Boston Globe, Chris Morris, Travel Editor

Bronze:           Los Angeles Times, Catharine Hamm, Travel Editor

 

102B — Newspapers under 350,000 circulation

Gold:   San Francisco Chronicle, Spud Hilton, Travel Editor

Silver: The Seattle Times, Kristin Jackson, Travel Editor

Bronze:           The Plain Dealer (Cleveland), Susan Glaser, Travel Editor

 

Category 103: Magazines (18)

103A — Travel Magazines

Gold:   National Geographic Traveler, the late Keith Bellows, Editor-in-Chief; Norie Quintos, Executive Editor

Silver: Afar, Julia Cosgrove, Editor-in-Chief

Bronze:           Travel + Leisure, Nancy Novogrod, retiring Editor-in-Chief; Nathan Lump, Editor-in-Chief

 

103B — Travel Coverage in Other Magazines

Gold:   Departures, Richard David Story, Editor-in-Chief

Silver: Outside, Christopher Keyes, Editor

Bronze:           Private Clubs, Don Nichols, Editor-in-Chief

 

Category 104: U.S./Canada Travel (135)

Gold:   Kim Severson, “Little Bit Country, Little Bit Gay,” The New York Times

Silver: Matt Jaffe, “Two Men and a Truck,” Arizona Highways

Bronze:           Jacob Baynham, “Land of Plenty,” Coastal Living

 

Category 105: Foreign Travel (165)

Gold:   Andrew McCarthy, “Untamed Ireland,” Travel + Leisure

Silver: Carl Hoffman, “It Takes a Village,” National Geographic Traveler

Bronze:           Todd Pitock, “The Rebirth of Awe,” National Geographic Traveler

Honorable Mention: Bruce Schoenfeld, “Spanish Inclination,” National Geographic Traveler

 

Category 106: Photo Illustration of Travel (89)

Gold:   Brian Peterson, “Wild World in Bloom,” Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

Silver: Aaron Huey, “The Road to Wellville,” National Geographic Traveler

Bronze:           Kari Medig, “The Great Canadian Safari,” Air Canada enRoute

Honorable Mention: James Whitlow Delano, “Traveler in the Sunset Clouds,” Smithsonian Magazine

 

Category 107: Special Packages/Projects (37)

Gold:   “Canada's Best New Restaurants 2014,” Air Canada enRoute magazine and multimedia,

Andrew Braithwaite, author; John Cullen, photographer; and enRoute-Spafax Canada staff

Silver: “50 Reasons to Love the World,” BBC Travel, Jim Benning and Allison Busacca, editors

Bronze:           “My European Ritual,” The New York Times, multiple contributors and staff

 

Category 108: Cruise Travel (54)

Gold:   Andrew Sessa, “Trip the Lights Fantastic,” Houston Chronicle

Silver: Eddy Hartenstein, “South of Everything,” Los Angeles Times

Bronze:           John Flinn, “Smaller Cruise Ships in Alaska Offer Big Close-ups,” San Francisco Chronicle

 

Category 109: Adventure Travel (76)

Gold:   Elizabeth Weil, “The Woman Who Walked 10,000 Miles (No Exaggeration) in Three Years,”

The New York Times Magazine

Silver: Christopher Solomon, “Baked Alaska,” Outside

Bronze:           Aaron Teasdale, “Maya Medicine,” SUP (Stand-Up Paddling) Magazine

 

Category 110: Travel News/Investigative Reporting (39)

Gold:   Grayson Schaffer, “Black Year,” Outside

Silver: Tracy Ross, “Vanished,” Backpacker

Bronze:           Mark Seal, “A Line in the Sand,” Departures

 

Category 111: Service-Oriented Consumer Work (100)

Gold:   “The Procastinator's Survival Guide to Summer Travel,” Sunset Magazine, with Christine Ryan, writer;

Andrea Minarcek, editor; David Zaitz, photography; and Supriya Kalidas, design

Silver: “20 Ways to Travel Better,” Travel + Leisure, Amy Farley, Brooke Porter Katz, Nikki Ekstein and staff,

with photography by Andrew B. Myers

Bronze:           Debra Bokur, “Gateways to Gastronomy/Upscale and Healthy Restaurants in Airports,”

Global Traveler

Honorable Mention: Irene S. Levine, “Bicycle Vacations: Boomers' Latest Travel Trend,”

PBS Next Avenue

 

Category 112: Environmental Tourism (51)

Gold:   Austin Merrill, “Into the Arctic,” Departures

Silver:  Jeff Greenwald, “A Natural Selection,” Westways

Bronze:           Rowan Jacobsen, “The River Was Everywhere and Nowhere,” Outside

Honorable Mention:  Caroline Alexander, “Five Hundred Pounds of Stealth,” Outside

 

Category 113: Cultural Tourism (127)

Gold:   Patrick Symmes, “Bonfire of the Humanities,” Outside

Silver:  Eliza Griswold, “Poetry Slam,” Outside

Bronze:           Don George, “Piecing Together Puzzles in Cambodia,” BBC Travel

Honorable Mention: Miranda S. Spivack, “In Spain, a Mosaic of Ruins Forms a Picture of Life

in a Major Outpost of the Roman Empire,” The Washington Post

 

Category 114: Personal Comment (117)

Gold:   Sarah Khan, “Once a Land of Princes and Palaces,” The New York Times    

Silver:  Marcia DeSanctis, “Travelling Solo in the World's Most Romantic Country,” BBC Travel

Bronze:           Jeff MacGregor, “La Dolce Via,” Smithsonian Magazine

Honorable Mention: Ian Gordon, “The Fierce Life and Too-Soon Death of My Unlikely Cuban Friends,” Mother Jones

 

Category 115: Special-Purpose Travel (105)

Gold:   David Farley, “Ashes to Ashes,” Afar

Silver:  Andrew McCarthy, “Steeped in Darjeeling,” National Geographic Traveler

Bronze:           Joshua Hammer, “Dream Machine,” Smithsonian Magazine

 

Category 116: Short Work on Travel (82)

Gold:   Mary Bergin, “In Nuremberg, Bratwurst Is an Institution, and Now a Museum Exhibit,” Chicago Tribune

Silver:  Robert Stephens, “The Secret to Happ…,” Islands

Bronze:           Kat Tancock, “Running All Over Town,” Canadian Business

 

Category 117: Travel Book (27)

Gold:   Karen Berger, with photography by Bart Smith, “America's Great Hiking Trails,”

Rizzoli International Publications

Silver:    Michael Meyer, “In Manchuria: A Village Called Wasteland and the Transformation of Rural China,” Bloomsbury Press

Bronze:           Phil Karber, “Postmarks From a Political Traveler,” Paradigm Publishers

 

Category 118: Guidebook (28)

Gold:   Rob Rachowiecki, with photography by Vance Jacobs, “National Geographic Traveler: Peru,”

National Geographic Books

Silver:  Robert Walker, “Okinawa and the Ryukyu Islands,” Tuttle Publishing

Bronze:           Andrew Dier, “Moon: Colombia,” Avalon Travel

Honorable Mention: Anne Vipond and William Kelly, “Best Anchorages of the Inside Passage,” Ocean Cruise Guides

 

Category 119: Travel Journalism Websites (18)

Gold:   OutsideOnline.com/Adventure-Travel, Outside, Christopher Keyes, Editor

Silver   RoadsAndKingdoms.com, Roads & Kingdoms, Nathan Thornburgh and Matt Goulding,

chief editors/publishers

Bronze:           CiaoBambino.com, Ciao Bambino!, Amie O'Shaughnessy, founder and managing editor

Honorable Mention:  Afar.com, Afar Media, Davina Baum, Digital Content Director

 

Category 120: Audio Travel Broadcast (16)

Gold:   Rudy Maxa, “Rudy Maxa's World: June 2014,” syndicated radio travel show

Silver:  Paul Lasley and Elizabeth Harryman, “Traveling With Paul Lasley & Elizabeth Harryman:

Margie Goldsmith Gets Engaged in Bali,” OnTravel Media

Bronze:           Thomas C. Wilmer, “Journeys of Discovery With Tom Wilmer: Discover Montserrat,”

National Public Radio podcast

 

Category 121: Video Travel Broadcast  (34)

Gold:   Rick Steves, “Rick Steves' The Holy Land: Israelis and Palestinians Today,” American Public Television

Silver:  Bob Krist, “Day of the Dead in Oaxaca,” National Geographic Traveler Intelligent Travel blog

Bronze:           The New York Times staff, “36 Hours,” The New York Times

Honorable Mention: Christine van Blokland, “Curious Traveler: Curious About … London,”

Public Broadcasting System

 

Category 122: Travel Blogs (38)

Gold:   ThePlanetD.com, Dave Bouskill and Debra Corbeil

Silver:  LegalNomads.com, Jodi Ettenberg

Bronze:           VoyageVixens.com, Lanee Lee Neil and Lindsay Taub

 

 

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