DAVID LYNCH AWARD WINNERS!!

Big kudos to Lisa Mascaro of the Las Vegas Sun! She is the winner of this year's David Lynch Award for exceptional coverage of Congress. And honorable mention to RRA member Maureen Gropp of Gannett!

Here's the press release:

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WASHINGTON – Lisa Mascaro of the Las Vegas Sun has won the David Lynch Award for exceptional coverage of Congress from a local perspective.

The David Lynch Memorial Regional Reporting Award is given to an individual, daily-print reporter whose work provides an understanding of the inner workings of Congress and explains how actions in Congress impact the local community. Judges look for thorough and incisive coverage, clear writing, and the reporter’s ability to explain difficult and complex subjects to a hometown audience.

Honorable Mentions went to Bill Walsh of the New Orleans, La. Times-Picayune and to Maureen Groppe of Gannett News Service.

Acccording to the judge’s citations:

-- Mascaro was recognized for her reporting in 2007 on the Nevada congressional delegation and for work that explored the human side of The Capitol.

-- Walsh was recognized for reporting on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and on political controversies surrounding two members of the Louisiana congressional delegation.

-- Groppe was recognized for her extensive research into the activities of the Indiana congressional delegation.

Mascaro received a $1500 award, and all three reporters also were honored on Wednesday at the 64th Annual Congressional Dinner, hosted by the Washington Press Club Foundation.

Judges for the contest were Mike Feinsilber of The Associated Press, Dan Morgan of the Washington Post, and Iris Kraslow, formerly of United Press International and now a journalism professor and author. The judges were selected by the Standing Committee of Correspondents, an elected committee of reporters that credentials the approximately 1800 daily-print reporters who cover Congress.

The late David Lynch was a longtime member of the U.S. House and Senate Press Galleries. He covered Congress for the Buffalo News and also for news bureaus that served daily newspapers in New England, Alaska, South Carolina, Iowa and Nebraska. After Lynch’s death in 1998 from colon cancer, his family, friends and journalism colleagues raised money to establish the award in his name.