The Virg Hill Journalist of the Year award is given each year to the journalist who, in the opinon, of the judges, submits the best portfolio of work. The award is named after Virg Hill, a popular political columnist and reporter for The Phoenix Gazette who died in 1969.

Judges this year are:
Gilbert Bailon, executive editor of The Dallas Morning News.
David Boardman, assistant managing editor of The Seattle Times.
George Ramos, a reporter and three-time Pulitzer Prize winner for the Los Angeles Times.

Second runner-up
Karina Bland, The Arizona Republic

Reporter Karina Bland has worked at The Phoenix Gazette and The Arizona Republic for 12 years. She covers child welfare issues.
Judge David Boardman, assistant managing editor of The Arizona Republic, was particularly impressed with Bland's stories about a paralyzed boy.
"This reporter demonstrates a sharp, questioning mind, a keen eye for detail and a graceful writing touch," Boardman wrote. "She exhibits a distinctive style while at the same time letting her subjects tell their own stories. Her work is insightful and moving."

First runner-up
Robert Nelson, New Times

Nelson has been a staff writer for the Phoenix New Times since April 2000. Before moving to Phoenix, Nelson spent five years as a features and projects writer for The Omaha World-Herald.
Judge George Ramos, a three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the Los Angeles Times, singled out Nelson's stories about controversial University of Arizona researcher Margueritte Kay and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arapaio.
"This reporter's work showed that the Maricopa County Sheriff can't balance his own budget and that the UA apparently accused professors who didn't tow the company line," Ramos wrote. "This is great journalism in the finest traditions of Virg Hill."
Judge David Boardman, assistant manageing editor of the Dallas Morning News, praised Nelson's journalistic voice.
"This journalist writes and reports with an obvious confidence, confidence that gives readers a sense of the depth and authority of his reporting," he wrote.

Virg Hill Journalist of the Year
Amy Silverman, New Times

Amy Silverman became a staff writer for Phoenix New Times in1993. In addition to New Times, her work has appeared in salon.com, The New York Times Magazine and Playbo Amy Silverman. She is at work on her first radio documentary and she teaches creative non-fiction for Writer's Voice, a community writing program in Phoenix.
Silverman has won multiple awards from the Arizona Press Club, and was named Virg Hill Journalist of the Year in 1999
"This reporter knows how to tell a story," judge Gilbert Bailon, executive editor of The Dallas Morning News wrote of Silverman. He singled out her series on the Department of Juvenile Corrections, calling it, "compelling in its details of unjust treatment for kids and depth of what's wrong with the system. It's got all the required documentation and official comment, but what sells this package is its readability and humanness."
Judge David Boardman, assistant managing editor of The Seattle Times, praised the breadth of Silverman's portfolio. "This reporter's work stands out for its amazing variety," he wrote. "To be able to move from a multi-part series on Arizona's Department of Juvenile Corrections to a light feature on croquet is quite a feat."