Former BirminghamWatch contributor Olivia McMurrey racked up a baker’s dozen of awards – 10 of them first place – in the 2006 Alabama Media Professionals’ Communications Contest. McMurrey thus added another prize, the Sweepstakes Award for best overall showing in the contest.

McMurrey, now a general assignment reporter at local National Public Radio affiliate WBHM, earned six of her first- place awards for work she did for BW. Those awards were in the following categories:

• In-depth Reporting for coverage of lead water line replacement in Birmingham, Alabama.
• Continuing Coverage or Unfolding News for Lake Purdy Dam coverage.
• Personality profile of more than 750 words for her piece on former Create Birmingham president and CEO Quang Do.
• Arts and entertainment story for Federal Arts Funding Cuts Hamper Birmingham-Area Events, Programs.
• Social issues for Reimagined Park to Open Nature to All on Birmingham’s East Side, her piece on the Jefferson County Greenway’s East Side Park.
• News story for an online publication for SNAP Suspension Could Escalate Hunger Crisis in Birmingham, Food Bank Leaders Warn.

McMurrey placed second in history for Birmingham’s Neighborhood Association Network Faces Challenges at the 50-Year Mark, an overview of the program, and third in the feature story, online publication category for her piece on Railroad Park’s fifteenth anniversary, Railroad Park Celebrates 15 Years as Birmingham’s ‘Front Lawn’.

“I’m happy and excited for Olivia as she played an important role in our re-establishing ourselves as a place for original journalism for and about Birmingham,” said BirminghamWatch executive editor André Natta.

“Most of all, I’m grateful that we still get the opportunity to work with her by way of our relationship with WBHM and that Birmingham still gets to benefit from her inquisitiveness.”

Working for WBHM, McMurrey earned first-place awards for the following:

• Green/environmental – Coalition raises concerns surrounding manufacturer’s environmental, labor practices in small Alabama town
• Science or technology – Is AI coming for your job? Maybe. Here’s what to expect and how to prepare
• Radio – Alabama looks to solve two problems at once by helping formerly incarcerated people enter the workforce.

McMurrey earned two additional awards:

• First place, health for Scorching Saturdays: The Rising Heat Threat Inside Football Stadiums;
• Honorable mention, business for Study: Prison labor could be suppressing Montgomery-area automotive wages.

Other BW Contributors Recognized

BirminghamWatch’s Robert Carter placed first in personal opinion (bylined, not editorial) for his column, We Think We’re Used to It — Then It’s One of Us.

Solomon Crenshaw Jr., another BW contributor, had won the sweepstakes award three years in a row before McMurrey snapped his string. He earned third place for BW for his education story Jefferson County School Leader Becomes the National Face of Education.

Crenshaw earned first-place honors for two works for The Birmingham Times:

• Feature, print for After BSC Closed its Doors, Samford University Opened its Heart for Jay Raby;
• Sports for ‘It’s All Love’: Meet the Birmingham High School Teammates Turned Magic City Classic Rivals.

Crenshaw was second for two other outlets:

• The Homewood Star in the health category for After second open-heart surgery, Samford senior White back on bike and thriving;
• Alabama News Center in science or technology for Do the math: Years added up for 50-year veteran Alabama scientist Brenda Perkins.

The honorees were recognized during an awards luncheon held on Apr. 23 at the Homewood Public Library by Alabama Media Professionals. First-place award winners advance for consideration in the national competition of AMP’s parent organization, the National Federation of Press Women.