The Presbyterian Outlook received top honors in several categories at the Associated Church Press 2020 “Best of the Church Press” award ceremony on April 8. The Associated Church Press (ACP) awards recognize excellence in faith-based media — including magazines, news services, online media and audio-visual communications. The ACP annual conference was held virtually this year this year due to COVID-19.
The Presbyterian Outlook – an independent, nonprofit publication – won eight awards at the ACP “Best of the Church Press” ceremony, receiving:
Best in class blog: Outlook Outpost blog, featuring voices of younger Presbyterian leaders. Here are three of the posts the judges commended:
- God knows, by Joshua Musser Gritter
- A hymn for a hot mess, by Rebecca Gresham-Kesner
- Spend the holidays with your household: Population one, by Julie Raffety.
Of the Outlook Outpost blog, the ACP judge wrote: “Timely and well-informed blog posts reflecting on faith during the pandemic … a good addition to the Presbyterian Outlook’s website.”
Award of excellence for an editorial: George Floyd is my brother, by Jill Duffield. The ACP judge called this “an unsettling call to conscience.”
James Solheim Award for Editorial Courage (first place): The inherent problem of whiteness in our polity, by Jill Duffield. The judge wrote: “Excellent job! Well written, well argued, and great flow. A hard-hitting topic that I’m sure got some pushback. The writer did a great job of criticizing the institution that the magazine is a part of, yet did it in a way that was constructive, thoughtful and informative. (Rather than criticism for its own sake.) A great example of editorial courage.”
Award of excellence for theme series: People of the words, by Andrew Taylor Troutman. The judge wrote that this blog series “explores multiple meanings of words and offers corresponding wisdom. It’s a winning approach that both entertains and illuminates.”
Award of merit for theme series (the only other award issued in this category): Expecting during the unexpected, by Joshua Musser Gritter.
Award of excellence for magazine design: Being in community during COVID-19 (August 24, 2020), by Jen Jones.
Honorable mention for in-depth coverage: Faith and food insecurity in North Carolina, by Leslie Scanlon.
Award of merit for long-format inspirational article: Spirituals as faith formation, by Phillip Morgan.
Other Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) media also received recognition. Presbyterian News Service, Office of the General Assembly communications and Unbound – all of which are part of the denomination’s communications efforts and are funded by the PC(USA) – all won awards.
The ACP is a professional organization of member publications (of which the Outlook is one) “with a commitment to excellence in journalism as a means to describe, reflect and support the life of faith and the Christian community,” according to its mission statement.
