The Park Record news staff took a trip down to the University of Utah Thursday night for the annual Society of Professional Journalists Utah awards ceremony. 

The staff didn’t leave empty-handed, winning 16 awards, including four first-place nods. 

Toria Barnhart won best newspaper reporter for the second consecutive year, along with first place in the diversity and equity coverage category, second place awards in the environment, series and education categories, and a shared third with David Jackson for photo essay. Scott Iwasaki took first place in the arts and entertainment category, and Don Rogers won first place for general feature, second for personality profile, and third in the humorous/lifestyle column category.

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“It was a tremendous honor to receive the best newspaper reporter award for the second year in a row,” Barnhart said. “It was nice recognition and motivation to continue the work when it can feel like it’s going nowhere.”

She said she looks forward to writing more long-form stories and solutions-based journalism this year.

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“I hope to dive deep into the important issues and meet the people who help make Summit County a great place to live, work, dream and play,” she said.

Rogers said he was excited for what the news staff is producing in 2024 “and for broadening and deepening our coverage to capture life in this community.”

“Awards are always fun,” he said. “I’m proud of our group, and it was great to see them together outside the newsroom and having fun and getting recognition. I’m also very happy for us to help support the SPJ and their work on behalf of journalism.”

“I think every piece of journalism has to start with people being willing to express themselves to journalists, and the more vulnerable they are often correlates with the impact of the story,” Brock Marchant said, expressing his gratitude to the sources for his award-winning entries.

Jackson talked about the challenges of covering his award winner.

“This was a team effort with Toria and the Park City Mountain Ski Patrol,” he said. “They gave us access to embed with their team on a heavy avalanche risk day with essentially no limitations. It was on a day when the snow was knee-deep with high moisture content, which made for very challenging shooting.”

“I’ve been working as a journalist since 1990, and awards come and go,” Iwasaki said. “But I do need to say that it’s always an incredible honor to be recognized by your peers.”

Other award-winners were writers Katie Hatzfeld, who took second in continuing coverage, third in general feature, and honorable mention in the environment categories; Jay Hamburger, who took third in continuing coverage; Marchant, third in arts and entertainment; photographer David Jackson, third in photo essay; and former Sports Editor Brendan Farrell, second in sports story.

Marchant also won a second place in general feature for his freelance work with the Salt Lake City Weekly. 

Utah’s SPJ membership gathered at a sold-out event at the University of Utah’s Cleone Peterson Eccles Alumni House. Multiple staff members’ loved ones joined the celebration, and among The Park Record crew were owners Matthew and Tatiana Prince, who purchased the paper in March 2023. 

The staff’s recognized work was from the 2023 calendar year. In the late summer of 2023, the Princes hired Rogers as editor from The Aspen Times in Colorado. 

“So proud of our team getting recognition for serving the Park City, Summit and Wasatch County communities,” Tatiana Prince said. “Incredible to see them recognized by the leading journalism organization in the state for their work.”

The full list of winners and winning-pieces is available here. For more information on Utah SPJ, see their website: utahspj.com

Rogers, Barnhart, Iwasaki, Jackson and Marchant shared what their recognition meant, what they thought got them noticed by the SPJ and people they wanted to thank for helping them get to this stage.

Don Rogers

Q: How excited were you to be honored last night?

A: A feature about the Hope Alliance won. It was fun to report and write, and a surprise to me that it won a category, a cherry on top. I might have been more excited when my children each were born, but this was more exciting than a sharp stick in the eye, for sure. Just seeing everyone together and having fun was the coolest part of the whole thing for me. I loved seeing almost everyone score, let’s say. And then maybe everyone will earn recognition next year. But you can’t take any of that for granted. This is what makes winning something fun.

Q: What do you think you did well to earn SPJ recognition?

A: Contests are crapshoots and judged in the eye of the beholder. But work at your craft, keep aiming to improve and serve the community through journalism, and at least some of your better work has a chance to be recognized.

Q: Is there anybody you’d like to thank who helped you reach this stage?

A: My dad who laughed when I said I could see being a writer. “You can’t write,” he said. Best motivating challenge ever. I think he knew the gauntlet he dropped for me. And yes, I’ve always had plenty of critics who would agree wholeheartedly with my father.

Q: What are you most excited to work on moving forward?

A: I’m excited for what our folks are doing in 2024, and for broadening as well as deepening our coverage to capture life in this community. There is so much out there that no one is touching yet.

Toria Barnhart

Q: What do you think you did well to earn SPJ recognition?

A: Per the judges for my best newspaper award: “Clean, crisp writing by Toria Barnhart that shows solid reporting coupled with an ability to weave in enough background and context to make the reader want to move from paragraph to paragraph. The mix of entries shows an aptitude for both news and news features. Nice work.”

Q: Is there anybody you’d like to thank who helped you reach this stage?

A: My very first, almost-editor Mike Throne. He helped show me the true value of community journalism, and was always an encouraging and thoughtful guiding hand. Also, my high school journalism teacher Mr. Hogan for being the first person who encouraged me to pursue a career in news when everyone else told me it was dying. 

Q: Do you think you will be able to use last night’s recognition to keep propelling yourself further as a journalist?

A: It was a tremendous honor to receive the best newspaper reporter award for the second year in a row. It was nice recognition and motivation to continue the work when it can feel like it’s going nowhere. 

Q: What are you most excited to work on moving forward?

A: I’m really looking forward to diving into more long-form features and solutions journalism! I hope to dive deep into the important issues and meet the people who help make Summit County a great place to live, work, dream and play.

Scott Iwasaki

Q: What do you think you did well to earn SPJ recognition?

A: I have no idea. It was a surprise. I only submitted one story, but it was about a talented man who found the joy of performing after life took him to the mat a few times.

Q: Is there anybody you’d like to thank who helped you reach this stage?

A: My wife Tamra Carlson. We met years ago, while we were both working at a daily newspaper in Salt Lake City, and we will celebrate our 24^th anniversary in October. Katie Hatzfeld who edited the copy. She is great at tightening things up. The Park Record, I’ve been up here since 2010.

Q: Do you think you will be able to use last night’s recognition to keep propelling yourself further as a journalist?

A: I’ve been working as a journalist since 1990, and awards come and go. But I do need to say that it’s always an incredible honor to be recognized by your peers.

Q: What are you most excited to work on moving forward?

A: I’m excited to get the next edition of The Park Record out. As for future stories, I never know what story will make a mark.

David Jackson 

Q: What do you think you did well to earn SPJ recognition?

A: This was a team effort with Toria (Barnhart) and the Park City Mountain Ski Patrol. They gave us access to embed with their team on a heavy avalanche risk day with essentially no limitations. It was on a day when the snow was knee-deep with high moisture content, which made for very challenging shooting.

Q: Is there anybody you’d like to thank who helped you reach this stage?

A: Thank you to Don Rogers, Tatiana and Matthew for the opportunity to pursue passion projects and allow me explore the boundaries of photojournalism using The Park Record as the platform.

Q: What are you most excited to work on moving forward?

A: Getting a third place award is very gratifying. However, it has inspired me to shoot better, tell stories better, and focus more intently on finding new, creative approaches.

Brock Marchant 

Q: What do you think you did well to earn SPJ recognition?

A: Both pieces were only possible from sources who were willing to share their experiences and expertise with me. I’m appreciative of the Heber Valley Railroad and its choice to be accommodating to David and I last year when we asked if we could tag along on one of their journeys to the North Pole. It was a lot of fun. For my article about cancer, I met with three medical professionals about their expertise in cancer treatment, and without their willingness to speak with me, the article never would have happened. I’m incredibly grateful for the time they gave me. I think every piece of journalism has to start with people being willing to express themselves to journalists, and the more vulnerable they are often correlates with the impact of the story.

Q: Is there anybody you’d like to thank who helped you reach this stage?

A: In the piece I wrote for Salt Lake City Weekly, I delve into the experience of losing my mom to stage-four breast cancer just a few weeks before I turned 18. It was a deeply personal and emotionally hard article to work on, and I would’ve given up several times if it wasn’t for Matthew LaPlante, a journalist and professor I had at Utah State University who helped me keep going and work those difficult feelings and experiences into the article rather than shunning them. He pushed me through every stage of the reporting and writing process, and he didn’t hold back when it came time to edit. He taught some of the first journalism classes I took, and I use important skills he taught me every day. I’m also grateful to every editor I’ve had — Charles McCollum, Jackson Wilde, Andrew Weeks and Don Rogers — for putting up with my bullshit and helping me become a better reporter. Don specifically is an amazing writer, and he’s great to work with. It was no surprise to me to see all the finalists in the newsroom for articles that came out last year after he took over.

Q: What are you most excited to work on moving forward?

A: Moving forward, I’m excited about the opportunity to continue learning about new people and writing about their experiences. The best part of journalism, in my opinion, is hearing about a vast array of experiences, from a vast array of people and getting the opportunity to help share stories that would otherwise go untold.