Editor Gabriel Dillard accepts an award from Gwen Moritz, incoming AABP president and editor of Arkansas Business News. Image via AABP

The Business Journal editorial team took home two awards from a journalism competition consisting business journals from around the country and even the world.

The results of the 2019 Editorial Excellence Awards hosted by the Alliance of Area Business Publishers were announced during the organization’s annual conference in Atlanta, Georgia, June 27-29.

Reporter Edward Smith won a silver award in the category of Best Personality Profile for his April 6, 2018 piece on Fresno developer Terance Frazier.

Faculty from the University of Missouri School of Journalism judged the competition’s 511 entries submitted by 41 publications in the U.S., Canada and Australia.

On Smith’s profile of Frazier, the judges offered the following comment:

“A simple clear narrative line drives this story of a young boy who taught himself about liens, survived homelessness and eventually became a real estate developer with a dream of revitalizing downtown Fresno.”

The Business Journal also earned its first-ever award in the category of Best in Show, bringing home a bronze award for small tabloid publications.

The judges commented that “each issue is packed with local stories, lists and easily digestible community content. Stories cover big companies as well as small community businesses and ventures, such as the standout stories on Grizzly Fest and the master leather craftsman. Photographs accompany most articles, and lists are designed for ease of viewing.”

The Daily Herald Business Ledger in suburban Chicago won the silver award in the category, with the gold award going to the Wilmington Business Journal in North Carolina.

“The high-quality journalism being done by these publications keeps readers thoroughly up-to-date and, importantly, includes a lot of data, context and historical perspective that are especially important as truth increasingly gets drowned in a flood of social media snippets,” said Reuben Stern, who coordinated the judging by faculty members at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. “The winning entries once again combine solid research, great sourcing, excellent on-the-ground reporting, deep community knowledge, and creative thinking.”