ACBJ papers receive awards

American City Business Journals, the Charlotte-based company that runs 40 business weeklies across the country, named its top journalists and journalism at a banquet Wednesday night.

Among the winners were the Atlanta Business Chronicle in the general excellence category and Joe Brancatelli, who covers travel for Portfolio.com, won in the beat reporting category.

The Pittsburgh Business Times was the winner in the enterprise/investigative category for its story that disclosed that local doctors were receiving millions from pharmaceutical companies, along with an online searchable database.

The Pacific Business News, a weekly in Honolulu, won in the breaking news category for its reporting on the potential sale of Hawaii’s biggest utility in a hostile takeover.

The Baltimore Business Journal won in the blogging category for its “Back to Work” blog, in the research category, and in the in-paper section category for its Smart Strategies and Back to Work sections.

Kirsten Grind, a reporter for the Puget Sound Business Journal, won in the writing category.

The Kansas City Business Journal won in the photography category, while Portfolio.com won in the infographics category.

The San Antonio Business Journal won in the out-of-paper section category for a real estate section that looked at a brewery’s conversion into commercial real estate.

Finally, the Nashville Business Journal won in the Page One category.

ACBJ used two academics — Chris Roush of UNC-Chapel Hill and Mark Vamos of Southern Methodist — and two former ACBJ paper managers — Mark Ethridge and Henry Dubroff — to judge the contest.