Dallas press club sues former president

The Press Club of Dallas has determined that its prestigious journalism competition was rigged in 2005 and 2006 and has sued its former president, a club official said Tuesday.

"As far as I am concerned, it's official," current president Tom Stewart said. "There is a complete absence of any information about judging in 2005 or 2006."

The 2004 Katie Awards remain under investigation. Stewart said he has a list of judges affiliated with a press club in the Northeast and is awaiting confirmation that its members looked at entries. Stewart declined to name the press club.

The Press Club of Dallas sued former president Elizabeth Albanese on Monday, accusing her of "dishonest and fraudulent activity" during her involvement with the organization.

The Dallas County District Court lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, plus attorney fees, expenses and court costs.

Phone messages left for Albanese and her attorney were not returned Tuesday.

The board appointed two members Tuesday to proceed with plans for the 2007 Katie Awards, but the club has not decided whether the competition will take place.

Albanese became involved with the judging of the Katie Awards around 2003, the year she began winning the coveted prizes. She was president from August 2005 until March 2007.

The Katie Awards have been distributed for 48 years by The Press Club of Dallas to reward the top work by journalists and communications professionals in Texas, Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma.

The integrity of the competition has been in doubt in recent weeks as press club members learned that Albanese couldn't name any of the judges involved in the 2006 or 2005 competitions. The 2004 Katies are also under investigation, Stewart said.

Board members also allege financial mismanagement by Albanese, who has won 10 awards in the past four years. Albanese also charged _ and has since repaid _ more than $10,000 in personal expenses to a press club credit card, Stewart said.

During most of her tenure as press club president, Albanese was Dallas bureau chief for The Bond Buyer, a New York-based financial publication aimed at people in the municipal bond industry.

She was fired late last month from her job as vice president of communications for First Southwest Co., an investment banking firm in Dallas, after questions about the contest surfaced.

Top editors at several of the region's largest media outlets had said they would return their discredited awards if the press club's investigation shows that recent competitions were rigged.

Other outlets don't have plans to return their awards but acknowledge the Katies from those years are tainted.

"It seems they are meaningless at this point," said Dale Leach, The Associated Press' bureau chief for Texas. "I'm not sure how meaningful it is to gather them all and send them in. I think it should go without saying that to tout on your resume that you won a competition that in reality was not a competition is unethical."