AP editors honor N&O work on records, Guard

'Electronic sunshine' lauded

The News & Observer won two first-place awards from the Associated Press Managing Editors association, it was announced Thursday.

APME, an association of editors at AP's 1,500 member newspapers in the U.S. and newspapers served by the Canadian Press in Canada, recognizes journalism excellence with annual awards in five categories.

In the First Amendment category for circulations above 150,000, The N&O staff was recognized for shedding "electronic sunshine" on e-mail written by public officials, which are public records and must be kept.

A series of stories documented how the Easley administration ordered the destruction of public-record e-mail. Some of the messages concerned the administration's failed mental health reform.

In the International Perspective category for circulations over 150,000, The N&O won for a four-part series reporting an N.C. National Guard sergeant's struggle with a promise he was unable to keep to a local woman -- that he would bring her son back from Iraq alive. Reporter Barbara Barrett wrote "The Promise."

The Charlotte Observer, which, like The N&O, is owned by The McClatchy Co., was given an honorable mention in the Public Service category for work published in both papers about the difficulties workers in the chicken industry face.