Ego Boost

Journalism awards

Texas Associated Press Managing Editors:

• Star reporter of the year, third place
• Sports feature, first place
• Feature writing, second place (read the story of The Bigfoot Hunter)
• Star online package of the year, second place (with Scotty Brunner for our Day Trips series)
• Business reporting, honorable mention

Additional praise

From an award nomination written by my beloved former editor:

“Wes Ferguson’s abilities as a storyteller are seen throughout his Star Reporter entries. From a local baseball player trying to work his way back to the Majors to a night spent with some of the city’s homeless population, Ferguson tackles each story with a reporter’s edge and a novelist’s sense of pacing.

“His keen eye for description and his sly sense of humor are throughout his entries, as is his ability to know when to get out of the way and let his subjects set the scene and talk about themselves and their situations.”

From a Nieman Storyboard interview with Ben Montgomery, the guy behind Gangrey:

From Jake Shaw, the managing editor of Dave Campbell’s Texas Football:

Padding the resume with student awards …

Investigative Reporters and Editors

• National finalist, student work

Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence, Region 8

• In-depth reporting, first place
• In-depth reporting, second place

Associated Collegiate Press

• News story, first place