Courtney Sacco

HF_ribbon.png

Recipient of the STAR PHOTOJOURNALIST OF THE YEAR award in The Charles E. Green Awards (2019)

Courtney Sacco
Corpus Christi Caller-Times

Judge’s Comments:

Angela Davis prays a two young boys sleep during Easter's services the Brooks AME Worship Center on Sunday, April 21, 2019. Brooks AME Worship Center has chosen to stay in the Hillcrest neighborhood. [Courtney Sacco/Caller-Times]

Angela Davis prays a two young boys sleep during Easter's services the Brooks AME Worship Center on Sunday, April 21, 2019. Brooks AME Worship Center has chosen to stay in the Hillcrest neighborhood. [Courtney Sacco/Caller-Times]

Once again the Star Photojournalist of the Year competition brings out the highest level of visual journalistic talent across the wide spectrum of Texas newspapers. Each of the four finalists is connected to the community they cover, providing readers/viewers with images and information that serve the public well-being thus allowing for better-informed citizens and residents.

Congratulations to 2019 Star Photojournalist of the Year Courtney Sacco of the Corpus Christi Caller-Times for his well-rounded portfolio that shows the many different aspects of life in the Corpus Christi area.

Sacco is alert to capture fleeting moments as well as covering major stories that demand patience and fortitude. Whether on the sidelines of a sporting event, onboard a fishing vessel, piloting a drone, or at a spot news event, he produces images that are well-composed, technically strong, while telling the story in an insightful manner.

In an era when so much is expected from every individual Texas journalist, Courtney Sacco is a good example of one who delivers results with good seeing and truthful images.

Cliff Schiappa
AP Photo Editor, Retired

Judge’s Bio:
Cliff Schiappa’s career as a photojournalist began in high school at his hometown weekly newspaper founded by Walt Whitman in Huntington, NY. He earned his bachelor’s degree in photojournalism at the University of Missouri and worked at The Kansas City Times for four years and The Associated Press for 23 years.

He traveled to five continents covering major stories including the summer Olympics in Seoul and Barcelona, papal tours of the United States and South America, presidential campaigns, Hurricane Katrina, Final Fours, World Series, Super Bowls, Goodwill Games and 8-man football in southern Kansas. In the early ’90s, Schiappa visited 120 newsrooms to teach journalists how to operate the AP LeafDesk, the first electronic darkroom that transformed the industry. In 2000, Schiappa was promoted to assistant bureau chief and in 2004 was named Midwest photo editor responsible for AP photo coverage in 13 states. He has received top honors from the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, National Headliner Awards and the National Press Photographers Association. Schiappa has served as a member of the board of NPPA and a trustee at the William Allen White Foundation at the University of Kansas. He was inducted into the Missouri Photojournalism Hall of Fame in 2011. From 2008 to 2018 he worked in the non-profit sector as Interim Executive Director at an adult literacy program and as Development Director at Heartland Men’s Chorus where he also sang bass. He is now retired and living in his small corner of paradise in Palm Springs, CA.

To see photos from Courtney Sacco’s prize-winning portfolio, please see the slideshow below:


Headliners Foundation