Former American Press
reporter Shawn Martin was honored Thursday as the third recipient of
the Hector San Miguel Memorial Fund Award for his dedication
to investigative journalism.
The award honors San Miguel, a longtime American Press reporter and editor who died in 2009 of complications from leukemia.
Martin, who worked at the Press for almost 20 years, died Feb. 15. He was 48. His wife, Kerrie, accepted the award.
Martin spent many years as the newspaper’s Beauregard Parish bureau chief in DeRidder and was a photographer at the Lake Charles
office.
Former American Press editor Linda Young said Martin had “incredible courage” and brought the newspaper “national acclaim.” She said Martin shared
San Miguel’s “relentless pursuit of the truth.”
Young spoke about Martin uncovering how
the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana paid millions of dollars to Washington
lobbyist Jack
Abramoff and public relations consultant Michael Scanlon. In one
story, Martin reported what the tribe called “questionable
lobbying practices on behalf of Native American tribes.”
Longtime American Press Sports Editor Scooter Hobbs was the event’s guest speaker. Hobbs replaced author Jeff Pearlman, who could not attend the
ceremony because of a family emergency.
Hobbs spoke about when he and San
Miguel went to Atlanta to cover the SEC Championship football game
between LSU and Tennessee.
He joked that San Miguel interviewed so many LSU fans that some
“were taking off their LSU shirts” to avoid being interviewed
by him.
“I think LSU sold 24,000 tickets to that game,” Hobbs said. “Hector interviewed 22,000.”
Hobbs said San Miguel, who knew little about sports, also broke the rule of not cheering for a team while working in the press
box.
Hobbs said he believes the Barbe High School football team has “a good chance” in Saturday’s Class 5A state championship game
against Archbishop Rummel in New Orleans. It’s the Bucs’ first title game appearance in more than 30 years.
“Barbe’s got a great kicker, so I’m giving them the edge,” Hobbs said.
Past recipients of the Hector San Miguel award are Jim Beam, retired editor of the American Press, and Vincent Lupo, longtime American Press courthouse reporter.
The luncheon was held at L’Auberge.