PABJ Announces 2017 Awards Gala Winners

​Sara Lomax-Reese, President and CEO of WURD Radio, has received the 2017 Trailblazer Award for her pioneering work creating HealthQuest Magazine

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The Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists (PABJ), released its 2017 PABJ awards winners.

Sara Lomax-Reese, President and CEO of WURD Radio, has received the 2017 Trailblazer Award for her pioneering work creating HealthQuest Magazine which explored health issues that impact Black people and in growing the state’s only African-American-owned talk-radio station, WURD Radio, ensuring Black people have an outlet for expressing concerns about issues that are important to Black people.

Sofiya Ballin, a reporter with the Philadelphia Media Network (The Philadelphia Inquirer, Daily News and Philly.com) has received the 2017 Online Journalist of the Year Award. Her “Black History Untold” series offered a view of what many African Americans learned about African American history outside of the classroom. Her powerful stories, told through the voices of African Americans, explored the kinds of valuable information about African Americans that was not covered in textbooks and other traditional academic teachings.

Aundrea Cline-Thomas, a reporter for NBC10 Philadelphia, has received the 2017 Broadcast Journalist of the Year Award. Aundrea is a reporter whose stories focus on issues that push beyond commonly covered headlines to discover and share textured stories that reflect and impact people in Black Communities

Errin Haines Whack, urban affairs reporter for the Associated Press, has received the 2017 PABJ Print Journalist of the Year. As Urban Affairs reporter, she tackled stories that impact Black people from angles that are often not explored in majority media. Her work has focused on the intersection of race, politics and culture as well as other issues of importance to African Americans.

Sandra Clark, Vice President for News and Civic Dialogue at WHYY, has received the 2017 Impact Award. A longtime champion of diversity, she believes all of our lives are enriched when we have access to different voices. It’s a philosophy that is reflected in her hiring, and mentoring of ethnic journalists.

Barbara and Tyree Johnson, Westside Weekly newspaper owners, have received the 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award. The husband and wife team turned an idea about a West Philadelphia newspaper into a voice of the community that is rooted in journalistic integrity. Tyree is a charter member of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists, and Barbara, who is receiving the award posthumously, was one of its earliest supporters

Lois and Oshunbumi “Bumi” Fernandez have received the 2017 PABJ Community Service Award for their work with the ODUNDE Festival, which celebrates African culture and legacy through song, art and food. 40-years ago, the late Lois Fernandez began the family oriented street fair. Her daughter Bumi worked with her mom through the years, and as Odunde CEO, has created year-round programming called Odunde365.

Haniyyah Sharpe-Brown is Communications Manager for Philadelphia City Councilwoman At-Large Blondell Reynolds Brown and founder of On Point Communications. She has received the 2017 Media Professional Award for public relations and community work that helps her clients craft campaigns to have a positive and empowering impact on Black people, while promoting their product or service.