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Carnacchio snags three SPJ awards
April 25, 2012
Among two other SPJ awards, Oxford Leader Editor C.J. earned first prize for this feature photo.
The 36-year-old Oxford resident received first place in the editorial writing category for his Jan. 5, 2011 opinion piece entitled, "A win for government secrecy; a loss for liberty."
The editorial chastised the Michigan Supreme Court for denying leave to appeal in a key case concerning the Michigan Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The case involved the denial of a citizen's FOIA request to review e-mails sent by school employees on the Howell school district's e-mail system.
Of his editorial, the SPJ judges wrote, "Carnacchio's passion for open government translates into a powerfully persuasive column censuring the Michigan Supreme Court for siding with those who seek to shield public information from the public. His step-by-step breakdown of what makes public documents public gives readers a simple and easy to digest breakdown of public v. private information, and underscores the critical misstep of the state's Supreme Court justices."
In the feature photography category, Carnacchio earned a first place award for his May 25, 2011 photo "Puppy Love" (shown above left).
The judges wrote, "The 'aww' factor of this photo makes this picture stand alone as a prime example of how to draw readers into a story. The incredible timing of this shot (look at that dog tongue!) and the expression on the man's face elevates a rather familiar story into a must-read."
In the sports photography category, Carnacchio earned yet another first place award for an April 20, 2011 photo of Oxford and Lake Orion hurdlers during a track competition (shown above right).
The judges wrote, "Carnacchio captured the sport of the hurdle competition and the determination of these two athletes with a perfectly-framed and well-timed shot."
All of Carnacchio's SPJ awards were in the Print Class C classification, which consists of non-daily publications.
In this class, Carnacchio competed with journalists and photographers from HOUR Detroit magazine, Crain's Detroit Business, Detroit Jewish News, The Voice, Red Thread, DBusiness and the C&G Newspapers group.
Since joining the Leader back in May 1999, Carnacchio has now earned a grand total of 55 awards for his writing and photography skills from the Detroit SPJ, the Michigan Press Association and the National Newspaper Association.