Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards

Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards
Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards
Awarded for	Excellence in travel journalism, including editing (newspaper, magazine, website travel coverage); writing (magazines, online, newspapers, books); and multi-media (broadcasting, special packages podcasts, video, photography, radio).
Date	Annual
Presented by	Society of American Travel Writers Foundation
Website	http://www.satwf.org

The Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards are administered by the U.S.-based Society of American Travel Writers Foundation (SATW Foundation), a nonprofit organization founded in the early 1980s to recognize excellence in travel journalism. The first awards were given in 1985 for work done in 1984. The competition is named after Lowell Thomas, the celebrated 20th century travel journalist and broadcaster. It is open to journalists from around the world and is considered one of the premier professional awards programs for travel journalists and communicators.^[1]^[2] Entrants (in the early 2020s, more than 1200 annually)^[3] include major media outlets, staff writers and editors, freelancers, book authors, digital communicators, and journalism fellows from such institutions as the Pulitzer Center.^[4] The competition honors works in more than two dozen categories, including print, digital, audio, video and photography. Winners are announced at the SATW (Society of America Travel Writers) annual convention and receive cash prizes.

The competition attracts entries from, and is covered by, major media,^[5] including the New York Times,^[6] Chicago Tribune,^[7] Los Angeles Times,^[8] Orange County Register,^[9] Washington Post,^[10]Cleveland Plain Dealer,^[11] Oregonian,^[12] Outside magazine,^[13] and Globe and Mail.^[14]

Categories edit

The Grand Award (Travel Journalist of the Year) is given to an editor or writer whose work excels in at least five of the awards categories. In 1985 (the first year awards were given), there were 15 categories. In the intervening years, new categories, including blogging, websites, video, and multi-media, were added to reflect the changing journalism landscape. For the awards announced in 2021, a new category travel for health and safety was added, and the list had expanded to 27 categories:^[15] Grand Award, Travel Health/Safety Coverage, Newspaper Travel Coverage, Travel Magazines, Travel Coverage in General Magazines, U.S./Canada Travel, Foreign Travel, Photo Illustration of Travel, Special Packages/Series, Cruise Travel, Adventure Travel, Travel News/Investigative Reporting, Service-Oriented Consumer Work, Environmental and Sustainable Tourism, Cultural Tourism, Personal Comment, Special-Purpose Travel, Short Work on Travel, Culinary-Related Travel, Travel Book, Guidebook, Travel Journalism Websites, Travel Audio, Travel Audio (Podcasts and Guides), Travel Video, Travel Blogs, Multimedia Single Work.

Judging edit

Entries are judged by members of the journalism faculty of an accredited U.S. university, each of which takes on the project for five or six years. Previous judges have included members of the faculties of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Journalism and Mass Communication, the Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism, and the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. In 2015, judging returned to the University of Missouri, which had judged the competition for two previous terms.

Grand Award Winners edit

Caption text
Year	Journalist	Outlet
2022^[16]	Stephen Hiltner	The New York Times
2021^[17]	Katherine LaGrave	Afar
2020^[18]	Kevin West	freelance
2019^[19]	Elaine Glusac	freelance
2018^[20]	Christopher Solomon	freelance
2017^[21]	Christopher Reynolds	The Los Angeles Times
2016^[22]	Aaron Teasdale	freelance
2015^[23]	Todd Pitock	freelance
2014	John Rowe	freelance
2014^[24]	Jill Schensul	The Record (New Jersey)
2013^[25]	Mary Jo McConahay	freelance
2012^[26]	Jill Schensul	The Record (North Jersey)
2011^[27]	Rick Steves	Rick Steves Europe
2010^[28]	Andrew McCarthy	freelance
2009^[29]	Joe Ray	freelance
2008^[30]	Christopher P. Baker	freelance
2007^[31]	Tom Haines	The Boston Globe
2006^[32]	Jane Wooldridge	The Miami Herald
2005^[33]	Tom Haines	The Boston Globe
2004^[34]	Rosemary McClure	The Los Angeles Times
2003^[35]	Tom Haines	The Boston Globe
2002^[36]	Wayne Curtis	freelance
2001^[37]	Harry Shattuck	The Houston Chronicle
2000^[38]	Peter Guttman	freelance
1999^[39]	Jill Schensul	The Record (North Jersey)
1998^[40]	Alan Solomon	The Chicago Tribune
1997^[41]	Christopher Reynolds	The Los Angeles Times
1996^[42]	William Ecenbarger	freelance
1995^[43]	Christopher Reynolds	The Los Angeles Times
1994^[44]	Jack Schnedler	The Chicago Sun-Times
1993^[45]	Jim Molnar	The Seattle Times
1992^[46]	Jim Molnar	The Seattle Times
1991^[47]	Jim Molnar	The Seattle Times
1990^[48]	Catherine Watson	The Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
1989^[49]	Laura Bly	The Orange County Register
1988^[50]	Bob O’Sullivan	freelance
1987^[51]	Carol Barrington	freelance

Multiple Lowell Thomas Award Winners edit

The SATW Foundation maintains a list of all winners by year; the following publications and individuals have garnered the most awards as of 2021:^[52]