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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT FEATURE, DIV 3 Feature treatment of an arts and entertainment topic. 🥇 1st Place: Todd Inoue, San Francisco Chronicle 🥈 2nd Place: Alex Morris 🥉 3rd Place: Meg James 🏅 Honorable Mention: Dan Rys

FOOD FEATURE, DIV 3 A story focusing on food, excluding reviews or commentary. 🥇 1st Place: Tim Carman 🥈 2nd Place: Emma Glassman-Hughes 🥉 3rd Place: Hanna Raskin 🏅 Honorable Mention: Sharyn Jackson

FOOD CRITICISM, DIV 3 A standout single story that delivers insight and opinions on the food industry. 🥇 1st Place: Joseph Lamour 🇭🇹🏳️‍🌈 🥈 2nd Place: Bethany Jean Clement 🥉 3rd Place: MacKenzie Chung Fegan, Chronicle Food 🏅 Honorable Mention: Andi Berlin Erica Marcus Marie Elena Martinez

NARRATIVE STORYTELLING, DIV 3 Honoring a single story told with literary flair—featuring vivid characters, dialogue, scene-building, and a strong narrative arc. 🥇 1st Place: DanZak 🥈 2nd Place: Sam Kestenbaum 🥉 3rd Place: Staff, Businessweek 🏅 Honorable Mention: Robert Fieseler

FIRST-PERSON NARRATIVE ESSAY, DIV 3 An essay or first-person story that demonstrates a sense of proportion and perspective. 🥇 1st Place: Lynzy Billing 🥈 2nd Place: Michael Andor Brodeur, The Washington Post 🥉 3rd Place: Deborah Vankin 🏅 Honorable Mention: Beth Harpaz

INCLUSION & REPRESENTATION IN FEATURES, DIV 3 Storytelling that centers historically under-covered communities. 🥇 1st Place: Elly Fishman 🥈 2nd Place: Staff, KFF Health News 🥉 3rd Place: Reia Li 🏅 Honorable Mention: Celeste Hamilton Dennis & Florence Middleton, KQED

SPORTS FEATURE, DIV 3 Feature treatment of any sports topic. 🥇 1st Place: Sally Jenkins, The Washington Post 🥈 2nd Place: Jason Wolf🐺🌵 🥉 3rd Place: Steve Politi 🏅 Honorable Mention: David Gambacorta, Philadelphia Inquirer Sports

FEATURES SERIES OR PROJECT, DIV 3 Feature treatment of any lifestyle, A&E or news topic that has multiple parts. 🥇 1st Place: Bram Sable-Smith PeggyLowe 🥈 2nd Place: Staff, Businessweek 🥉 3rd Place: John Williams, Nora Krug & Sophia Nguyen, The Washington Post

FEATURE WRITING PORTFOLIO, DIV 3 Three stories by the same writer from any combination of feature beats 🥇 1st Place:brendankiley 🥈 2nd Place: Helena Andrews-Dyer, The Washington Post 🥉 3rd Place: Kristin Robinson 🏅 Honorable Mention: Patricia Wen

FEATURE BEAT WRITING PORTFOLIO, DIV 3 Three stories by the same writer on one feature topic, such as A&E, fashion, food, health, religion, technology or travel. 🥇 1st Place: Natalie B. Compton 🥈 2nd Place: Geoff Edgers 🥉 3rd Place: Keri Blakinger 🏅 Honorable Mention: Jon Bream

FOOD WRITING PORTFOLIO, DIV 3 Three stories, columns or reviews by the same writer on any food topic. 🥇 1st Place: Elena Kadvany 🥈 2nd Place: Emily Heil, The Washington Post 🥉 3rd Place: Hanna Raskin 🏅 Honorable Mention: MacKenzie Chung Fegan, San Francisco Chronicle

GENERAL COMMENTARY PORTFOLIO, DIV 3 Three columns or essays by the same writer on any human interest or specialty topic – no editorials. 🥇 1st Place: Yvonne Abraham, The Boston Globe 🥈 2nd Place: Laura Yuen 🥉 3rd Place: Jay Michaelson 🏅 Honorable Mention: Col. Gustavo Arellano

ARTS & CULTURE CRITICISM PORTFOLIO, DIV 3 A trio of A&E stories by the same writer — no editorials. 🥇 1st Place: Chris Richards, The Washington Post 🥈 2nd Place: Philip Kennicott 🥉 3rd Place: Gemma Wilson, The Seattle Times 🏅 Honorable Mention: Sebastian Smee, The Washington Post

UTILITY FEATURE PORTFOLIO, DIV 3 Three stories that break down everyday life with clarity and consumer focus. 🥇 1st Place: Andrea sachs & Natalie B. Compton 🥈 2nd Place: Caroline Kee 🥉 3rd Place: Richard Sima, Ph.D. richardsima.bsky.social 🏅 Honorable Mention: Tiffany Acosta, azcentral

SPECIAL PRODUCT – DIGITAL OR PRINT, DIV 3 Best non-regular feature; one-time or special edition. 🥇 1st Place: Newsday 🥈 2nd Place: The Boston Globe 🥉 3rd Place: Adam Clark & katie i. kausch 🏅 Honorable Mention: Staff, The Seattle Times

COMBINED DIVISIONS: PODCAST – NARRATIVE 🎙️🎧 🥇 1st Place: The Boston Globe 🥈 2nd Place: Silvia Foster-Frau Emma Talkoff Monica Campbell 🥉 3rd Place: Maren Padmini Parthasarathy & Nick Schwellenbach 🏅 Honorable Mention: Cara Anthony Zach Dyer Taylor Cook

COMBINED DIVISIONS: NARRATIVE VIDEO A short (≤5 min) lifestyle or culture video using narrative tools. 🥇 1st Place: Lauren Raposa & Nyah Marshall 🥈 2nd Place: Vickie Connor 🥉 3rd Place: Hadley Green 🏅 Honorable Mention: Pat Nabong stefano esposito & Zubaer Khan, Chicago Sun-Times

COMBINED DIVISIONS: SOCIAL MEDIA PORTFOLIO 🥇 1st Place: The Baltimore Banner 🥈 2nd Place: njdotcom 🥉 3rd Place: Chicago Sun-Times 🏅 Honorable Mentions: The Oregonian & Journal Sentinel

Well, that’s a wrap on our 2025 SFJ Excellence-in-Features Awards! Thank you to all the incredible journo storytellers who entered, and to our dedicated judges. You inspire us. ✨ Until next year—keep telling those compelling stories. 📰✍️