Two National Headliner award for Plain Dealer

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Plain Dealer staffers walked away with top honors in the categories of informational and illustrative graphics in the 2012 National Headliner Awards.

First-place awards went to Plain Dealer artists Andrea Levy, for illustration, and William Neff, for informational graphics.

This is Levy's eighth first-place finish. The 52-year-old Lakewood resident won her first national award in 2004. She finished second in 2010.

The 2012 award is the second consecutive first-place finish for Neff. He finished in second place in 2005 and third place in 2006 in the prestigious national awards that have been given out since 1934.

Levy has worked at The Plain Dealer since 2000 and has won a first place in eight of the past nine years.

Her winning entry was a portfolio consisting of five projects that combined photo illustration with painting and drawing.

Neff, 52, of Lakewood, has worked at The Plain Dealer for 15 years. His winning portfolio also included five projects.

"I am pleased the Headliner Award judges continue to see The Plain Dealer's ongoing commitment to journalistic excellence," said Plain Dealer Editor Debra Adams Simmons. "Andrea Levy and William Neff repeatedly stand out as the most talented visual journalists in the country."

The Plain Dealer staff won third place in the news series category for "Tales From the Heart: Inside the Cleveland Clinic."

In other contest results, The Plain Dealer's Christopher Evans was one of three finalists in the American Society of Newspaper Editors contest for distinguished editorial writing.

Sharon Broussard received one of two special citations for her Cleveland schools editorials in the opinion category of the Education Reporting Awards contest sponsored by the Education Writers Association.

The National Headliner Awards website: http://www.headlinerawards.org/