CNHI News Service
June 23, 2008 07:11 pm
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Carol A. Dawson, a columnist for the Jeffersonville, Ind., Evening News and The New Albany, Ind., Tribune, has received the prestigious Will Rogers Humanitarian Award from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists.
The honor was announced Saturday night at the NSNC's 32nd annual conference in New Orleans. Ellen Goodman, the Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for the Boston Globe and Washington Post Writers Group, received the organization's Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award.
James Rogers, great-grandson of Will Rogers, presented Dawson and co-winner Bill Campbell, a columnist for The Beachcomber of Destin, Fla., with replica statutes of the the famous Oklahoma humorist in the U.S. Capitol.
Dawson was cited for her "The Extra Miler" column about ordinary people committing extraordinary acts of kindness for others in the southern Indiana communities served by the Evening News and The Tribune. Both papers are owned by Community Newspaper Holdings Inc., a group publisher of more than 90 dailies in 20 states.
Dawson originated her column three years ago as a freelance writer to recognize individuals who "go the extra mile" and do not seek or receive public credit for their deeds. Subjects of her column receive an "Extra Miler" pin.
Her column has featured more than 200 people, including many serving in the military, and has elicited countless responses. She said a column she wrote about local troops in Iraq last year resulted in 3,000 cards and letters to the soldiers.
“The acknowledgement is not for the words I put to paper each month,” she said. “It is for the people who are featured. This is recognition that kindness begets kindness.”
The Will Rogers award was established by the NSNC in 1999, and recognizes a columnist whose work has positively affected readers' lives and produced tangible benefits for the communities served by the writer's newspapers. The NSNC said winners are selected on the basis of results.
Dawson, who retired several years ago as a federal health and safety official and now runs a workplace consulting business, said she has always enjoyed talking with people about what drives them to help others in a community. She said she approached the Evening News and Tribune about "The Extra Miler" column, and soon thereafter she added columnist to her list of credentials.
“Faith is a big part of the Extra Miler columns,” she said. “God led me to begin writing about these awe-inspiring people, and it has been my pleasure and good fortune.”
Dawson said she never expected an award for her columns. "It is something I will always cherish because it represents a contribution to society by everyday people," she said.
Bill Ketter, CNHI's vice president of news, praised Dawson's columns.
"She has a rare knack for discovering the unsung heroes in the community and then detailing their unselfish deeds without seeming factitious," Ketter said.
The Rogers award is one of the most sought-after among the country's editorialists and columnists, he said.
“It recognizes an intrinsic purpose of journalism — positively affecting readers’ lives through storytelling that affirms the essential goodness of ordinary people and their impact on the community.”
After first learning of the award, Dawson quickly became a Rogers devotee. She recently shared this quote of the columnist: “We can’t all be heroes, because somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by.”
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