Freelance journalist and author Deborah Evans Price was presented the 2013 CMA Media Achievement Award in the backstage media center during “The 47th Annual CMA Awards” on Wednesday, Nov. 6.
“I’m so honored to win the CMA Media Achievement Award this year, especially when I think of all the wonderful journalists who precede me like Chet Flippo, my beloved former bureau chief at Billboard,” said Price. “The publicists in the Country Music community are the hardest working, most caring people and such a joy to work with. I’m blessed to get up every day and write about music I love and am so touched by this recognition.”
“Deborah is respected within the industry and is highly regarded for her passion for the music, her relationships with our artists, and her creative, collaborative approach to her work,” said CMA VP of Corporate Communications Wendy Pearl. “Over the years, Deborah has made great contributions to the development of many artist’s careers as well as championing our legends.”
Price authored a coffee table book on the history of the CMA Awards, which was released in 2010. She also recently released Country Faith, a compilation of musical artists’ favorite scriptures.
Based in Nashville, Evans Price is a frequent contributor to Billboard, Country Weekly, FIRST for Women, GospelMusicChannel.com, PEOPLE Country, HomeLife, and CMA Close Up, among other publications. A respected music industry analyst, Price has been interviewed by key media outlets, including MSNBC, CNN, the “Today Show,” ABC’s “Prime Time Live,” the Gospel Music Channel, CMT, The Washington Post, The New York Times, among others.
A native of Richlands, Va., Price’s father was in the Air Force, and she grew up on military bases all over the world, from McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey to Kadena AFB in Okinawa, Japan. She majored in journalism at Louisiana State University in Shreveport and, while in college, worked at KTAL-TV Channel 6. During college, she worked as a disc jockey at Country station KRMD-FM for four years while also writing articles on Country music for the Shreveport Times and Shreveport Journal. A Nashville resident since 1983, Deborah began her career on Music Row as editorial assistant at Radio & Records magazine before landing the editor-in-chief post at Country News.
She has served as associate editor with American Songwriter and Country/Christian editor at Billboard. She was a contributor to the Billboard Encyclopedia of Record Producers, profiling such music industry legends as Sam Phillips, Billy Sherrill, and Ken Nelson. She was a contributing author to The World’s Best Songwriters on Creating the Music That Moves Us.
The CMA Media Achievement Award was established to recognize outstanding achievements in the media as they relate to Country Music. Print and Internet journalists, columnists, authors, and editors; television writers, producers and bookers; and syndicated radio reporters are eligible to win this award. CMA member publicists nominate media candidates for consideration. The top five nominees are collected and sent to the publicist panel for a second round of voting. The overall winner is presented to the Awards and Recognition Committee and then approved by the CMA Board of Directors.
Previous Winners of the Media Achievement Award:
1982 Jack Hurst
1983 Neil Hickey
1984 Dolly Carlisle
1985 Red O’Donnell
1986 No Recipient
1987 David Zimmerman
1988 Robert K. Oermann
1989 Bob Claypool
1990 Dick Heard
1991 No Recipient
1992 Mark McEwen
1993 Lynn Lester
1994 Judy Massa
1995 Clay Smith
1996 Tisi Aylward
1997 Jay Orr
1998 Chet Flippo
1999 Hazel Smith
2000 Neil Pond
2001 Harry Chapman
2002 Jim Patterson
2003 Denise Quan
2004 Alanna Nash
2005 Mark Bracco
2006 Donna Hughes
2007 Storme Warren
2008 Monica Escobedo
2009 Cynthia Sanz
2010 Beville Darden
2011 Ashley Dvorkin
2012 Jennifer Meyer and Ray Sells