Boston Globe leads local media outlets in Society of Professional Journalists awards

The Boston Globe captured five first-place awards and swept the photography contest in the Society of Professional Journalists’ Sigma Delta Chi national awards.

The society honors print, radio, television, and online news organizations from across the country in its annual awards. The organization received nearly 2,000 submissions this year, according to its website.

Both the Globe and the Boston Herald took first place for deadline reporting on the Boston Marathon bombings. The Globe won in the category for newspapers with more than 100,000, while the Herald won for newspapers with daily circulation of more than 50,000 but less than 100,000.

Globe reporter Neil Swidey won the regional/local magazine writing award for his piece “Greetings from Gun Valley,” published in the Boston Globe Magazine.

Globe photographers won all three photography awards in the newspaper’s circulation category: breaking news, feature, and sports.

Globe photo editor Bill Greene said that he was proud of his staff and that it was an extraordinary achievement to sweep all three categories.

Photographer John Tlumacki took the breaking news prize for his iconic image of 78-year-old runner Bill Iffrig, who is shown on the ground near the Marathon finish line, while a trio of Boston police officers react to the bomb.

“John’s photo will stand the test of time,” said Greene. “His presence at the finish line was unbelievable.”

Greene won the feature photography category with a photo of Marathon victims in recovery.

The Globe’s Stan Grossfeld captured the sports photography prize with his “V for Victory” photo taken as David Ortiz hit a game-tying grand slam during a Red Sox playoff game.

“It was a remarkable moment,” said Greene. “I’m just happy to be a part of the team.”

Public radio station WBUR-FM took the audio slideshow prize for its piece “Boston Marathon Bombing: In Their Own Words.” The slideshow featured short sound clips from different groups of people, including runners, police officers, medics, and journalists who witnessed last April’s tragedy.

The station also won in the digital audio category for its Commonhealth podcast.