The Religion Newswriters Association has announced its top honors for journalists at its 2014 awards banquet for Religion Reporting Excellence in Atlanta, Georgia.

Roy Larson was presented the William A. Reed Lifetime Achievement Award for his intrepid reporting and commitment to fostering a new generation of religion writers the RNA said on Saturday.

Larson was a religion reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times. He later began a joint journalism and religion program, which he directed as well as taught courses, at Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism.

David Gibson of Religion News Service won first place in the Religion Reporter of the Year contest for large newspapers and wire services.

Michelle Boorstein of The Washington Post won second place, and Rachel Zoll of the Associated Press took third.

Honorable mentions were awarded to Laurie Goodstein of The New York Times and Lauren Markoe of Religion News Service.

First place in the Religion Reporter of the Year contest for metropolitan newspapers went to Peter Smith of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Second place was awarded to Ann Rodgers for work done at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and third place went to Mark Mueller of The Star-Ledger. Honorable mention was awarded to Tim Townsend for work at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

JoAnne Viviano of The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch won the Cornell Religion Reporter of the Year Award for mid-sized newspapers. Peter Smith placed second for work at The (Louisville) Courier-Journal, and Bill Sherman of Tulsa World placed third.

In the Cassels Religion Reporter of the Year contest for small newspapers, first place was awarded to Holly Meyer of Post-Crescent Media.

Kyle D. Huckins came in second place for work at the (Marion, Ind.) Chronicle-Tribune. Matthew Miller of the Lansing (Mich.) State Journal and The Rev. Alexander M. Santora of The Jersey Journal tied for third.

Time magazine's Elizabeth Dias won first place for the Supple Religion Feature Writer of the Year Award.

Michelle Bearden placed second for work at The Tampa Tribune, and Yair Rosenberg of Tablet magazine received third place. An honorable mention was awarded to Renee K. Gadoua for work at Religion & Politics.

ENTERPRISE RELIGION REPORT

First place in the Gerald A. Renner Enterprise Religion Report of the Year was awarded to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Credit goes to team members: Annysa Johnson, Ellen Gabler, Karen Herzog, Allan Vestal, Emily Yount, Gina Barton and Kevin Crowe.

Minnesota Public Radio's MPR News placed second, and Religion News Service won third place.

First place in the Religion Commentary/Blog of the Year Award went to Jonathan Merritt of Religion News Service. Second place was awarded to Elizabeth Tenety of The Washington Post, and Jason Berry of GlobalPost placed third.

The Schachern Award for Online Religion Section of the Year was awarded to GlobalPost Special Reports. The Salt Lake Tribune placed second, and Reuters received third place. Honorable mention was given to KidSpirit Online.

Christa Case Bryant of The Christian Science Monitor placed first in the Magazine News Religion Report of the Year Award. Jaweed Kaleem of The Huffington Post placed second, and Time magazine's Elizabeth Dias took third. Honorable mention was awarded to Bret Mavrich for his work at Christianity Today.

The Magazine Overall Excellence of the Year Award went to Tikkun magazine. Christianity Today placed second, and Moment magazine came in third. Honorable Mention was awarded to Sojourners.

First place in the Radio or Podcast Religion Report of the Year contest went to Tony Ganzer for work at Deutsche Welle Radio (Germany).

KQED Radio's Steven Cuevas from The California Report in San Francisco placed second. Third place was awarded to Monique Parsons for work at WBEZ-Chicago. Honorable mention was awarded to the Interfaith Voices team: Kimberly Adams, Jocelyn Frank, Jonathan Miller, Elizabeth Shakman Hurd and Steve Martin.

CBS' Elizabeth Kineke and Mary Alfieri were awarded first place for the Television News Magazine Religion Report of the Year Award. Judy Valente took second, and Lucky Severson placed third. Both work for Religion & Ethics News Weekly.

The National Network/Cable News Religion Report of the Year Award went to Jerome Socolovsky with Voice of America. Second place was awarded to Elizabeth Kineke and Mary Alfieri of CBS, and third went to Eric Marrapodi and Miguel Marquez of CNN.

Religion Newswriters Association (RNA) is a professional trade association working to promote excellence in the coverage of religion and in public discourse about religion