The Daily Memphian has been recognized in multiple journalism competitions, earning awards in the 2025 Tennessee State Press Contests, the Green Eyeshades Awards and the Tennessee Sports Writers Association state writing contest.

Winning stories are listed below, by awards and placements.

2025 Tennessee State Press Contests Awards

The Daily Memphian won three first-place awards during the 2025 Tennessee State Press Contests for Breaking News, Best Single Feature and Best Sports Writing, along with numerous other awards.

Best Breaking News Coverage, first place

Bill Dries, Aarron Fleming, Samuel Hardiman, Laura Testino and Jane Donahoe won for “DOJ report finds MPD discriminates against Black residents,” which included more than five separate pieces.

Best Breaking News Coverage, second place

Jody Callahan, Geoff Calkins, Laura Testino and Jane Donahoe won for coverage of the Memphis-Shelby County Schools board’s effort to oust then-Superintendent Marie Feagins.

The package included stories about Feagins narrowly surviving the board’s ouster attempt, an account of the raucous crowd at an MSCS meeting, a story about a state lawmaker considering options for a school system takeover and a column about the ouster attempt, “Calkins: Feagins survives for now. But what an embarrassing mess.

Best Business Coverage, fourth place

Aisling Mäki, Jane Roberts, Sophia Surrett and James Overstreet won for a package of business stories, including “Memphis pediatrician brings back the house call,” “Memphis restaurant that put the soul in soul food says goodbye” and “What’s on the road ahead for newly independent FedEx Freight.”

Best Education Coverage, third place

Laura Testino, Abigail Warren, Clay Bailey and Jane Donahoe won for a portfolio including “After axing hundreds of jobs and adding new ones, where does MSCS stand?” and “Germantown schools employees learn to recognize gunfire.”

Best Feature Photograph, second place

Mark Weber won for the photos that accompanied “Depth of field: Agricenter sunflowers offer bloomy photo backdrop.”

Best Graphics and/or Illustrations, second place

Kelsey Bowen, Bill Dries, Aarron Fleming, Nick Lingerfelt, Elle Perry, Laura Testino and Holly Whitfield won for a variety of graphics, including an interactive chart of people involved in the Young Dolph murder trial for “What we now know about Young Dolph’s death.”

Best News Photograph, third place

Patrick Lantrip won for a gallery of images taken in February 2024 when a pro-Palestinian protest shut down the Interstate 40 bridge. 

Best Personal Humor Column, second place

Tim Buckley won for “Buckley: What’s flying in the Memphis sky? Hello, Chuck Blimp.”

Best Single Feature, first place

Jane Roberts won for “Ricky Webb served 46 years in prison, all of them unjust,” about a 70-year-man who became the longest-serving exoneree on record in Tennessee history and the fourth-longest in the nation.

Best Single Feature, second place

Geoff Calkins won for “Calkins: He’s the pastor who survived the Harvest plane crash. A story of gratitude and grief.”

Best Sports Photograph, fifth place

Mark Weber won for images with “Tigers complete comeback against SMU with Quinerly’s game-winner.”

Best Sports Writing, first place

Frank Bonner II, Tim Buckley, Geoff Calkins, Chris Herrington, Drew Hill, King Jemison and John Varlas won for a portfolio of work that covered the Memphis Grizzlies, Memphis Tigers football and basketball, coaches, players and high school golf. 

Best Headline Writing, third place

Kelsey Bowen, Alys Drake, Beth Gooch, Nick Lingerfelt, Natalie Pilgrim and Andrew Smith won for several work samples including “New coffee shop built on holy grounds.”

Best Local Features, second place

Geoff Calkins, Jody Callahan, Rob Moore, Jane Roberts and Clay Bailey, Jane Donahoe and James Overstreet. For this category, news organizations submitted two feature stories per quarter, such as “‘It’s bonkers’ — how Ozempic, Wegovy change lives of those who struggle to lose weight,” “What’s it look like when a 315-pound lineman learns to swim? PURE joy.” and “Jeff Buckley lives on and on, including in Memphis.”

Public Service, fourth place

Julia Baker, Bill Dries, Aarron Fleming, Samuel Hardiman, Laura Testino and Jane Donahoe, for The Daily Memphian’s “Point of Impact” series about gun violence and its impact on Memphis.

75th Annual Green Eyeshades Awards

The Daily Memphian’s journalists took home first place in the 75th Annual Green Eyeshades Awards’ Graphics and Infographics category, among numerous other awards. 

Graphics and Infographics category, first place

Kelsey Bowen, Nick Lingerfelt, Elle Perry and Laura Testino for data visualizations related, in part, to the Young Dolph trial and state scores for area public schools. 

Entertainment Reporting, second place

Chris Herrington took second place for Entertainment Reporting, including a story about a white vocal trio who were featured on most of Al Green’s 1970s soul hits, a viewer’s guide to the 2024 Indie Memphis Film Festival and a feature on a Bailey Bigger album. 

Food & Dining Reporting, second place

Former food and dining writer Jennifer Chandler took second place for Food & Dining Reporting, including a feature on how Pronto Pups started in Memphis as well as a special obit on chef Jackson Kramer of Bounty on Broad. It also included an in-depth piece on how chefs price their menu items. 

Feature Photography, second place

Mark Weber

General News Photography, third place

Patrick Lantrip and Mark Weber

Sports Photography

Patrick Lantrip and Mark Weber

Breaking News, third place

Bill Dries, Aarron Fleming, Samuel Hardiman and Laura Testino for their series on the U.S. Department of Justice alleging that the Memphis Police Department discriminates against Black residents and people with behavioral health issues. 

Tennessee Sports Writers Association state writing contest

Gary Lundy Writer of the Year award

John Varlas, for a memorial tribute on the death of Terry Tippett, a goodbye to Memphis 901FC pro soccer franchise and a story on the Melrose High basketball legacy.

Best Feature Writer; Best Investigative/Series 

Tim Buckley, a senior writer and deputy sports editor, for stories including one on Memphis Tech product Daryl Braden’s path to becoming a UAB basketball pioneer, the resurrection of the Memphis Golf Association City Am golf tournament; and one on a last-minute official scorer substitution at an NCAA Regional men’s basketball tournament in Memphis.

Buckley’s investigative/series entry was a multi-part examination of the Memphis Tigers’ NIL program.

Gary Lundy Writer of the Year award, runner-up

Tigers basketball beat writer Parth Upadhyaya

Best Event Writer, second place 

Drew Hill, The Daily Memphian’s Memphis Grizzlies beat writer

Best Prep Writer, second placed 

John Varlas

Best Columnist, second place

Tim Buckley

Best News Writer, third place 

Tigers football beat writer Frank Bonner II

Best Investigative/Series, third place

Drew Hill 

Best Feature Writer, third place

John Varlas