As executive editor of the CandysMedia family of websites — daltxrealestate.com, SecondShelters.com, and MidlandDirt.com — I could not be more proud to announce that our team earned three distinctions at the National Association of Real Estate Editors journalism awards in New Orleans last Friday. This year’s convention, the organization’s 50th, had the highest attendance over years past. Hosted at Harrah’s Hotel and Casino, the only real gambling we did was on who would bring home awards. Hopefully, you were betting on us!
Not only did daltxrealestate.com take home the silver award for “Best Blog” — a category we’ve earned twice before in both gold and silver — but our columnist Jon Anderson won a silver in the “Best International Real Estate Story” category and a bronze in the “Best Column” category. This marks five national awards for a five year old real estate weblog!
The National Association of Real Estate Editors is an independent organization, founded in 1929, for members of the active media who cover residential and commercial real estate, luxury and green building, mortgage, financing and investment, and home and design for the general public and trade press. Members are reporters, writers, columnists, bloggers, editors and producers for major digital, print and broadcast news outlets. A panel of expert judges from the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University selected all award winners. Professor Emeritus Patrick S. Washburn, a former news reporter and editor, chaired the panel. There were hundreds of entries.
We were in good company, with journalists from the Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and even Dallas real estate journalists Steve Brown of The Dallas Morning News and Candace Carlisle of the Dallas Business Journal. (Candace won a gold for her report on the Haggard Farm.) Real estate journalism powerhouse Josh Salman took the Platinum Award thanks to his superior collection of ground-breaking stories covering Florida real estate and government corruption.
This is the first year that the daltxrealestate.com team has taken home multiple awards, but it certainly won’t be the last. We are proud of our team and can’t wait to see what we do next year! Jump to read what the judges had to say about our entries!
Best Column
Bronze Winner: Jon Anderson, daltxrealestate.com/ SecondShelters.com
Judge’s Comment on Bronze Winner: “’The columnist took readers on a great ride, pondering such things as how the evolution of women’s roles in society have evolved and what that has to do with interior design. Women are no longer relegated to some dark, backroom kitchen. Yet home exteriors cling to the past with styles that are copies of bygone eras. This was a thoughtful retrospective on design with belly laughs.”
Best International Real Estate Story
Silver Winner: Jon Anderson, SecondShelters.com
Judge’s Comment on Silver Winner: “This was a breezy look at buying a second or third home in Marrakech, Morocco, which is affordable and has something in real estate for everyone. Beyond a catchy headline (‘Flock to the Casbah’), the story offered a highly interesting look at the nuts and bolts of finding a livable space in an exotic destination. It did a great job of dissecting the market.”
Best Blog
Silver Winner: Candace Evans, daltxrealestate.com/ SecondShelters.com
Judge’s Comment on Silver Winner: “How decadent, how dreamy—can this be real? The blogger got great access to the most expensive home in Dallas–$100 million—and with the use of a trove of information and numerous lavish photographs on which readers could feast their eyes, this blog was lively and fun.”
