The Red Smith Award is awarded by the Associated Press

Associated Press

The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...

 Sports Editors for outstanding contributions to sports journalism

Sports journalism

Sports journalism is a form of journalism that reports on sports topics and events.While the sports department within some newspapers has been mockingly called the toy department, because sports journalists do not concern themselves with the 'serious' topics covered by the news desk, sports...

. It has been awarded annually at the APSE convention since 1981. Unlike many journalism awards, it is open to both writers and editors.

The Smith Award is traditionally announced in April and the winner receives the award in June at the annual APSE convention.

List of winners

Year	Winner	Organization
1981	Red Smith Red Smith (sportswriter) For other uses, see: Red Smith Walter Wellesley "Red" Smith was an American sportswriter who rose to become one of America's most widely read sports columnists.-Career:After graduating from Green Bay East High School, site of Packers home games until 1957, Smith moved on to...	The New York Times The New York Times The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
1982	Jim Murray Jim Murray (sportswriter) James Patrick Murray was an American sportswriter at the Los Angeles Times from 1961 to 1998.Many of his achievements include winning the NSSA's Sportswriter of the Year award an astounding fourteen times...	Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
1983	Shirley Povich Shirley Povich Shirley Lewis Povich was an American sports columnist and reporter for the Washington Post.-Biography:Povich's parents were Jewish immigrants from Lithuania...	The Washington Post The Washington Post The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
1984	Fred Russell Fred Russell Fred Russell was an American sports writer prominent in the Golden Era of Sports in the 20th century...	Nashville Banner Nashville Banner The Nashville Banner is a defunct daily newspaper of Nashville, Tennessee, United States, which published from April 10, 1876 until February 20, 1998...
1985	Blackie Sherrod	The Dallas Morning News The Dallas Morning News The Dallas Morning News is the major daily newspaper serving the Dallas, Texas area, with a circulation of 264,459 subscribers, the Audit Bureau of Circulations reported in September 2010...
1986	Si Burick Si Burick Simon "Si" Burick was a sports editor and featured columnist for the Dayton Daily News for 58 years. Burick received the J. G. Taylor Spink Award on July 23, 1983, and was inducted into the writers section of the Baseball Hall of Fame...	Dayton Daily News Dayton Daily News The Dayton Daily News is a daily newspaper published in Dayton, Ohio. It is owned by Cox Enterprises. In the 2010 Associated Press Society of Ohio newspaper competition that takes place every year, DaytonDailyNews.com was named "the best large-newspaper web site in Ohio".-History:On August 15,...
1987	Will Grimsley	Associated Press Associated Press The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
1988	Furman Bisher Furman Bisher Furman Bisher is a columnist for the Gwinnett Daily Post in Gwinnett County, Georgia. He ended his retirement from writing on January 4th, 2010....	The Atlanta Journal The Atlanta Journal-Constitution The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the only major daily newspaper in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, and its suburbs. The AJC, as it is called, is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the result of the merger between The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta...
1989	Edwin Pope	The Miami Herald The Miami Herald The Miami Herald is a daily newspaper owned by The McClatchy Company headquartered on Biscayne Bay in the Omni district of Downtown Miami, Florida, United States...
1990	Dave Smith	The Dallas Morning News
1991	Dave Kindred	The National Sports Daily
1992	Ed Storin	The Miami Herald
1993	Tom McEwen	The Tampa Tribune The Tampa Tribune The Tampa Tribune, published in Tampa, Florida, is one of two major newspapers published in the Tampa Bay area, second in circulation and readership to the St. Petersburg Times. The paper's tagline is "Life...
1994	Dave Anderson Dave Anderson (sportswriter) Dave Anderson is an American sportswriter based in New York City. After graduating in 1947 from Xavier High School - an elite Jesuit preparatory school in New York City - Anderson attended the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts, graduating in 1951.Anderson has written for a number of New...	The New York Times
1995	Richard Sandler	Newsday Newsday Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
1996	Bill Dwyre Bill Dwyre Bill Dwyre is a sportswriter and former newspaper sports editor. Notable for his long tenure as sports editor of the Los Angeles Times beginning in June 1981, he moved to the writing ranks full time in June 2006...	Los Angeles Times
1997	Jerome Holtzman Jerome Holtzman Jerome Holtzman was an American sportswriter known for his writings on baseball who served as the official historian for Major League Baseball from 1999 until his death.-Newspaper career:...	Chicago Tribune Chicago Tribune The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
1998	Sam Lacy Sam Lacy Samuel Harold Lacy was a pioneering African-American and Native American sportswriter, reporter, columnist, editor, and TV/radio commentator who worked in the sports journalism field for parts of nine decades...	Baltimore Afro-American Baltimore Afro-American The Baltimore Afro-American, commonly known as The Afro, is a weekly newspaper published in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. It is the flagship newspaper of the Afro-American chain and the longest-running African-American family-owned newspaper in the United States.-History:The newspaper was founded in...
1999	Bud Collins Bud Collins -External links:*** 2001 interview with Collins*...	The Boston Globe The Boston Globe The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
2000	Jerry Izenberg Jerry Izenberg Jerry Izenberg is a sports journalist with the Newark, New Jersey Star-Ledger. His career with the Star-Ledger began in 1951 while he was still a student at Rutgers University, Newark, but was interrupted for several years during which he served in the Korean War...	The Newark Star-Ledger The Star-Ledger The Star-Ledger is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to The Jersey Journal of Jersey City, The Times of Trenton and the Staten Island Advance, all of which are owned by Advance Publications.The Newark Star-Ledgers daily...
2001	John Steadman John Steadman John Steadman was an American sportswriter for The Baltimore Sun. His career spanned 7 decades and he attended and reported on every Super Bowl from its inception until his death.-Background:... Awarded posthumously.	The Baltimore Sun The Baltimore Sun The Baltimore Sun is the U.S. state of Maryland’s largest general circulation daily newspaper and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries....
2002	Dick Schaap Dick Schaap Richard Jay Schaap was an American sportswriter, broadcaster, and author.-Early life and education:...	ESPN ESPN Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming.... , The Sports Reporters The Sports Reporters The Sports Reporters is a sports talk show that airs on ESPN at 9:30 a.m. ET every Sunday morning . It is broadcast from Bristol, Connecticut at the main ESPN studios. However, before 1999, it was broadcast from a studio in Manhattan. and from 1999-2010 it was recorded at the ESPN Zone at Times...
2003	George Solomon George Solomon George Solomon is a former sports editor and columnist at The Washington Post and was the first ombudsman for ESPN.Solomon is a 1963 graduate of the University of Florida. He began working at the Post in 1972. He served as assistant managing editor for sports from 1975 to 2003. From 2003 to his...	The Washington Post
2004	Jimmy Cannon Jimmy Cannon Jimmy Cannon was a sports journalist inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame for his coverage of the sport.-Early career:...	New York Post New York Post The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions... , New York Journal American New York Journal American The New York Journal American was a newspaper published from 1937 to 1966. The Journal American was the product of a merger between two New York newspapers owned by William Randolph Hearst: The New York American , a morning paper, and the New York Evening Journal, an afternoon paper...
2005	Mary Garber Mary Garber Mary Ellen Garber was an American sportswriter, who was a pioneer among women sportswriters. She received over 40 writing awards and numerous honors in a sports-writing career that spanned seven decades, the most prestigious of which was the 2005 Associated Press Sports Editors Red Smith Award...	Winston-Salem Journal Winston-Salem Journal The Winston-Salem Journal is a daily newspaper primarily serving the city of Winston-Salem, North Carolina and its county, Forsyth County, North Carolina. It also features coverage of Northwestern North Carolina and circulates as far west as Tennessee and north to Virginia.The paper is owned by...
2006	Joe McGuff Joe McGuff Joseph T. McGuff was an American journalist, author, and newspaper editor.Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he attended Marquette University and served briefly in the United States Army before being discharged due to asthma. After first working for the Tulsa World, he joined the staff of The Kansas City...	The Kansas City Star The Kansas City Star The Kansas City Star is a McClatchy newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri, in the United States. Published since 1880, the paper is the recipient of eight Pulitzer Prizes...
2007	Van McKenzie	Orlando Sentinel Orlando Sentinel The Orlando Sentinel is the primary newspaper of the Orlando, Florida region. It was founded in 1876. The Sentinel is owned by Tribune Company and is overseen by the Chicago Tribune. As of 2005, the Sentinel’s president and publisher was Kathleen Waltz; she announced her resignation in February 2008...
2008	W. C. Heinz W. C. Heinz W. C. Heinz ; born Wilfred Charles Heinz, was an American sportswriter. He was born in Mount Vernon, New York.-Newspaper & magazine career:...	The New York Sun
2009	Vince Doria	ESPN
2010	Mitch Albom Mitch Albom Mitchell David "Mitch" Albom is an American best-selling author, journalist, screenwriter, dramatist, radio and television broadcaster and musician. His books have sold over 30 million copies worldwide...	Detroit Free Press Detroit Free Press The Detroit Free Press is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, USA. The Sunday edition is entitled the Sunday Free Press. It is sometimes informally referred to as the "Freep"...
2011	William H. "Bill" Millsaps, Jr.	Richmond Times-Dispatch Richmond Times-Dispatch The Richmond Times-Dispatch is the primary daily newspaper in Richmond the capital of Virginia, United States, and is commonly considered the "newspaper of record" for events occurring in much of the state...