Times honored with journalism awards

The Seattle Times has received several top journalism prizes. Reporters David Heath and Sharon Pian Chan won the Ted M. Natt First Amendment Award for a series of stories examining Internet company InfoSpace.

The series "Dot Con Job" was "not only a significant piece of investigative journalism but demonstrated the Times' willingness to pursue court action to open sealed documents," wrote John Finnegan, one of a three-member team of judges.

"The successful action not only affects Washington state but also could have an impact in courts throughout the country."

The newspaper also received several annual C.B. Blethen Memorial Awards.

In the Distinguished Feature Writing category, reporter Marsha King was awarded first place for "Losing Betsy," a story about a woman living with Alzheimer's disease, and Julia Sommerfeld was awarded second place for "The Girl in the Mirror," a story about a girl with the rare Crouzon syndrome, which deformed her face.

In the Distinguished Enterprise Writing category, reporters Chan and Steve Miletich took second place for "Medicare Fraud at UW," while former Times reporter Ray Rivera took first place for his series "Suspicion in the Ranks," about the case against former Muslim Army chaplain James Yee.

In the Distinguished Diversity Reporting category, reporter Cheryl Phillips was awarded second place for "Gay Marriage," and The Seattle Times staff was awarded the Debby Lowman Award for reporting on consumer affairs for "Make it Count: Consumer Initiative."