Sweepstakes Home
Sweepstakes can be fun - but shouldn't
cost you money
Sweepstakes offers sweep savings
out the door
Sweepstakes 'scams' unveiled through
series
Daughters vent their frustrations
at sweepstakes
Another area person also believed
he was a winner
USPE responds to local customers'
complaints
Attorney General wants to better
the odds in sweepstakes
Sweepstakes victim goes public
Sweepstakes industry hits unlucky
streak
Psychology lures people into buying
Sweepstakes victim getting her
money back
Sweepstakes legislation may carry
local victim's name
Buying club complaints piling up
Here's the key: Think, call BBB
before you sign
NEWS-SUN, EVENING STAR
& HERALD-
REPUBLICAN
|
Star reporter's sweepstakes
series wins national award
This article was originally published in
The Evening Star on October 30, 1999.
Cindy Bevington of The Evening Star staff has won one of the
nation's most prestigious awards for newspaper writers.
Bevington's series on mail-order sweepstakes abuses earned
the Community Leadership Award from the Inland Press Association.
The University of Missouri School of Journalism sponsored the
competition.
Bevington received her award last weekend at an Inland convention
in Chicago.
"We had the most entries ever in the history of the contest
and competition was the stiffest ever," Elaine Lange of
Inland told the convention guests.
A total of 769 newspapers in 49 states are members of the
Inland Press Association and were eligible to enter the competition.
Bevington won in the division for newspapers with a circulation
of 10,000 and under. About 600 of Inland's member newspapers
fall in that category.
Only a first-place award was given in each of four newspaper
size categories.
Other winners were The Daily Times of Farmington, N.M., for
circulation of 10,000 to 25,000; The Scranton Times/The Tribune
of Scranton, Pa., for 25,000 to 75,000; and The Blade of Toledo,
Ohio for circulation over 75,000.
Bevington's project focused chiefly on a northeastern Indiana
woman, Betty Weimer of LaGrange, who lost thousands of dollars
buying merchandise in an attempt to win sweepstakes prizes.
Her series of newspaper articles resulted in refunds of about
$20,000 to Weimer, who later attracted nationwide attention from
news organizations and appeared on a network morning news show
to tell her story.
Weimer and Bevington attended as special guests when Indiana
Attorney General Jeff Modisett gathered experts from throughout
the nation at Indianapolis to discuss sweepstakes swindles. Next
year, Modisett plans an effort to pass a state law on sweepstakes
fraud and name it after Weimer.
Bevington resides in Angola with her husband, Chuck. She works
from The Evening Star's Angola office. Her stories appear in
The Evening Star and in many special publications that are carried
by The Evening Star and The News-Sun of Kendallville.
She has been honored for her feature writing in The Evening
Star by the Hoosier State Press Association. She previously won
numerous awards while working at newspapers in Florida.
"I think this is probably the most special and most prestigious
award I have ever won," Bevington said of the Inland prize.
Bevington's award-winning series on sweepstakes may be viewed
on The Evening Star's web site, www.kpcnews.com, by clicking
"Sweepstakes Scams" under "Northeast Indiana Facts"
on the left side of the home page. The site also includes stories
about the topic that have not appeared in our print editions.
|
STAR REPORTER'S
SWEEPSTAKES SERIES WINS NATIONAL AWARD
EXCLUSIVE TO THIS WEB SITE:
A letter to The Evening Star editor
from Indiana's Attorney General
Want to read another paper's stories
about sweepstake scams?
Why do the elderly seem more susceptible
to believing sweepstakes promises? Two experts give their opinions
Why do the elderly seem more susceptible
to believing sweepstakes promises? A gerontologist shares his
studies.
Iowa has seen it before
National issue, local example,
big news
Persons to contact if you believe you may be the victim
of a sweepstakes scam:
National Association of Attorneys
General
750 First Street, NE, Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20002
PH: (202) 326-6000
FAX: (202) 408-7014
Office of Attorney
General
Steve Carter
402 W. Washington St.
Fifth Floor
Indianapolis, IN 46204
PH: (317) 232-6201
FAX: (317) 232-7979
National Fraud Information Center 1-800-876-7060
National
Consumer's League
1-202-835-3323
Federal Trade Commission 1-877-382-4357
(toll free)
E-mail
Cindy Bevington
or Evening Star
editor Dave Kurtz.
WATCH FOR ADDITIONAL STORIES EXCLUSIVE TO THIS WEB SITE!
|
