The 2006 National Headliner Awards were announced today (March 8) and 13 Bay Area journalists were honored:

Jon Carroll, Chronicle, second place, Local Interest Column on a Variety of Subjects

Gwen Knapp, Chronicle, first place, Sports Writing

Kim Komenich, Chronicle, third place, Newspaper Spot Photography (for “Tikrit Suicide Bomber Aftermath”)

Stephanie Grace Lim, Mercury News, third place, Newspapers Illustrative Graphics

Douglas Fischer, Oakland Tribune, second place, News Series, circulation up to 75,000 (for “A Body’s Burden: Our Chemical Legacy”)

Matt Bigler, KCBS-AM 740, second place, Radio Documentary or Public Affairs (for “Hired Hands”)

David Brancaccio, Simon Marks, Keith Porter and Kristin McHugh, KQED-FM 88.5, first place and grand award in radio (for “Security Check: Confronting Today’s Global Threats”)

Dan Noyes, Beth Ramsey and Lynn Friedman, KGO-TV, third place, TV Investigative Reporting (for “The Body Show”)

KPIX CBS 5 Consumer Watch, third place, Business and Consumer Reporting (for “On The Hook”)

[AP story on the awards] [List of print and broadcast winners]