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Award-winning journalist Denise Tessier
File this away in today’s good news slot.
Stories written for the New Mexico Independent will nab three national first-place awards when the National Federation of Press Women holds its annual conference in San Antonio, Texas next month.
Former NMI reporter/blogger Denise Tessier won first place in “feature writing for the Web” for her story “Cradles of Hope,” a photo-essay about an Albuquerque art exhibit organized to raise awareness for and to benefit African orphans.
Tessier also took first in agricultural reporting for her two-part series on beekeeping and colony collapse disorder — re-read them here and here. Two other articles by Tessier, on Santa Fe architect Edward Mazria’s Blueprint 2030 and solar energy, placed first in a special rotating subject category called “Planet Earth.”
All of the articles placed first in the state communications contest sponsored by New Mexico Press Women before advancing on to the national competition. Because of Tessier’s wins at the state level, the New Mexico Independent placed third in the state sweepstakes for news outlets.
The other winners, based on staff awards, were the Santa Fe New Mexican, first, and the Weekly Alibi, second. Tessier was the individual sweepstakes winner for most points accumulated in the state contest.
In addition to the three firsts that went on to win nationally, her state awards included a first in government reporting, a second in covering religion, and two second-place awards in Web writing, for commentary and news, all of which appeared in NMI.
She also took second in the newsletter category for her work for the nonprofit East Mountain Historical Society.
