Real Estate Daily News Contributor, Terri Jo Neff Honored by Arizona Press Club

COCHISE COUNTY — Terri Jo Neff, a freelance journalist based in Cochise County, has been awarded third-place by the Arizona Press Club for community public safety reporting. The award, which was announced June 4, recognized Neff for her reporting for the Cochise County Record in 2016 in the areas of law enforcement, courts, corrections, fire and rescue.

On learning that the Arizona Press Club selected Neff’s work for recognition, Cochise County Record publisher David M. Morgan stated “Terri Jo Neff is the finest reporter I’ve worked with in decades. Her attention to detail and documentation, and her ability to explain serious news concisely, is rare.”

Arizona Press Club winners are usually on-staff reporters, noted Morgan, so Neff’s freelance status demonstrates the judge appreciated “that quality journalism comes in many forms.”  He added that having a freelance reporter like Neff in the community “so dedicated to serious news in a small market and willing to be published by an under-capitalized, non-traditional platform, is even more rare.”

The announcement of Neff’s award included comments by judge Shoshana Walter of the Center for Investigative Reporting that Neff shows “a good command of complicated court filings and proceedings.”  Walter reviewed five of Neff’s articles published last year that, according to the judge, “shed light on abuses of power in the Cochise County criminal justice system.”

“I am honored to have my work recognized by the Arizona Press Club and Ms. Walter,” Neff said upon hearing of her third-place award. “My thanks go out to the Cochise County Record and the other editors who published my work in 2016.”  Those other publications include the Sierra Vista Herald, Willcox Range News, Benson News Sun, Tombstone Gazette, and Real Estate Daily News.

The Arizona Press Club’s community awards recognize journalists who write for daily newspapers with circulation of less than 20,000, non-daily publications with circulation under 50,000, and online-only publications.

First place in the public safety category went to a team from the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting, while second place was awarded to Paulina Pineda of the Nogales International. Pineda was also named the Press Club’s 2016 community journalist of the year.

The Cochise County Record focuses on serious news -courts, crime, and politics- in Cochise County and its seven municipalities. According to Morgan, “our goal since 2006 is to inform citizens on local matters that have been largely ignored for years and in doing so educate readers as to how local government functions.”

“Real Estate Daily News is always proud to share articles by Terri Jo with our readers and congratulates Terri Jo on this well-deserved recognition by her peers,” said Karen Schutte, publisher. A few of Neff’s notable articles published recently in Real Estate Daily News include:

Rent Dispute at Plaza Vista Mall in Sierra Vista prompts Lawsuit (April 5, 2017) Court requests more documents from developer suing Cochise County over $10M zoning dispute (Feb. 23, 2107) ‘Rails to Trails’ Lawsuit Settlement: $5M Fed payout to landowners along old Cochise County railroad corridor (Jan. 12, 2017)Statewide Implications for Hatch v Klump Appeals Court hearing of not-so-neighborly property dispute (Oct 20, 2016)10yr Legal Battle Over 100yr-Old Railroad Land Deals; Perhaps Soon Resolved (Sept 12, 2016)Cochise County Sued After $10M Claim Rejected; Project Approval Delays Cited (Aug. 12, 2016)

Neff should be contacted directly at [email protected]