Actually, you might believe it.
But who doesn't enjoy a little clickbait, right?
A year ago, in the intro to a 5Q+1 interview here at GetReligion, I wrote:
Jaweed Kaleem, the Religion Newswriters Association's 2013 Supple Religion Feature Writer of the Year, produces exceptional journalism on a regular basis. Don't be surprised if his latest story — in which he goes inside Pakistan to report on religious minorities — turns out to be one of the best religion news stories all year.
It's a must read.
Am I a prophet or what?
Kaleem's Pakistan story just won a Wilbur Award from the Religion Communicators Association.
What's a Wilbur Award?
Here's how the Religion Communicators Council — at whose convention I was honored to offer a keynote presentation in 2006 — describes the awards announced this week:
The awards honor excellence by individuals in secular media – print and online journalism, book publishing, broadcasting, and motion pictures – in communicating religious issues, values and themes during 2014. ...
The Religion Communicators Council has presented Wilbur Awards annually since 1949. Secular communicators enter work in eight categories. Juries of media professionals, coordinated by council members across the country, evaluate submissions on content, creativity, impact and excellence in communicating religious values.
The award is named for the late Marvin C. Wilbur, a pioneer in religious public relations, longtime council leader and former Presbyterian Church executive.
Congrats to Jaweed!
All other Godbeat pros, please note: Do a 5Q+1 interview with GetReligion, and wonderful things will happen in your career — such as national awards.
Just ask Lilly Fowler, religion writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Like Kaleem, Fowler did a 5Q+1 interview with GetReligion. And like Kaleem, Fowler just won a Wilbur Award — for her coverage of the religion angle in the Ferguson, Mo., protests. Surely that couldn't be just coincidence, could it?
In all seriousness, congrats to Lilly, too, for her exceptional work on a difficult story!
Finally, I'll mention one other winner — before inviting you to click the link and check out the full list of honorees.
Our newest GetReligionista — Julia Duin — won a Wilbur Award for her "From Rebel to Reverend" profile of the Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber for More Magazine.
Congrats to Julia, and welcome to the GR team!