Tampa Tribune religion reporter Michelle Bearden placed second in the national Supple Religion Writer of the Year award, which recognizes a reporter's writing skills and grasp of the beat.
The award was announced Saturday night during the annual Religion Newswriters Association conference in Minneapolis. The association represents some 500 members and associates across the country.
Bearden won for a collection of seven stories that were published in 2008.
Those stories can be viewed at clients.tbo.com/bearden/.
Winning first place was Moni Basu, formerly of the Atlanta Constitution-Journal and now with CNN.com.
Basu won the top prize for her nearly year-long, eight-part series chronicling a young evangelical Christian chaplain, following him from Baghdad to Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington. She also won the association's Religion Reporter of the Year award for that report.
Third-place winner for the Supple was Tim Townsend of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Bearden, a two-time Supple Award winner, also reports on faith and values for WFLA-TV. Her "Keeping the Faith" segment, in its 15th year, airs weekly on Fridays and Sundays.
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