California biz paper wins national award

The Pacific Coast Business Times has received a 2010 Sigma Delta Chi award from the Society of Professional Journalists for its breaking news coverage of the recapitalization of the region’s largest bank.

A story on the paper’s site states, “The Business Times received the deadline reporting award in the non-daily publication category for a front-page package of stories on the $500 million rescue of Pacific Capital Bancorp. SPJ, a national association of professional journalists, announced the winners on May 10.

“The Business Times was the first to publish the details of the Pacific Capital deal, posting an in-depth online story just hours after bank officials briefed shareholders.

“The following print issue presented a deeper, deadline-reported analysis of what Gerald Ford’s majority takeover of Pacific Capital Bancorp meant for the Tri-Counties’ largest independent bank. Staff writers Stephen Nellis and Marlize van Romburgh presented the complex details, noting that the private equity infusion ‘would spread the pain among shareholders, debt holders and the U.S. Treasury’ but also spread ‘the upside if the bank recovers.’ The reporters spoke with bank officials, shareholders, economists, longtime area banking experts and Ford, the Texas billionaire heading up the private equity offer.

“A front-page graphic by Van Romburgh tracked the rise and fall of Pacific Capital over a 13-year trajectory, as its share price rose from the $10 range in the late 1990s, peaked at about $32 in 2005 and then tumbled to the $1 mark before the deal.”

Read more here.

Also, Sarasota Herald-Tribune reporter Paige St. John received an SPJ award in the investigative reporting category for her coveage of the problems in Florida’s property and casualty industry. The articles also won a Pulitzer and a National Journalism Award.

See all of the SPJ winners here.