ONLINE
Online investigative reporting for digital-only website
First Place
“Denied”
Emmanuel Martinez, Lauren Kirchner and Malena Carollo
The Markup
Judges’ comments: Too often, investigations lose steam when those responsible say that an issue is too complicated and that the public would see something in a different light if they had more information. The Markup followed up on a previous investigation by examining information the mortgage industry argued would prove that their lending isn’t discriminatory. The investigation found the opposite to be true and showed the disparity at some of the country’s most prominent lenders.
Second Place
“Cabrini-Green: A History of Broken Promises”
Alejandra Cancino
Better Government Association
Third Place
“Equity Erased”
Sally Kestin
Asheville Watchdog
Online investigative reporting for digital partnerships with other news outlets
First Place
“Pandora Papers”
International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, The Washington Post, Miami Herald and
other media partners
Judges’ comments: The judges found the scope and depth of the Pandora Papers investigation to be stunning. As the entrants noted: “More than 600 journalists at 151 media outlets in 117 countries joined forces — the largest news collaboration in history.” The journalism’s impact was real: from voters booting out the Czech Republic’s prime minister to bi-partisan Congressional lawmakers introducing legislation in the U.S. to the impeachment of President Piñera of Chile.
Second Place
“The Failures Before the Fires”
Madison Hopkins and Cecilia Reyes
Better Government Association and Chicago Tribune
Third Place
“Invisible Threat: Carbon Monoxide’s Unchecked Toll”
ProPublica/Texas Tribune/NBC News staff
Online beat coverage
First Place
“Pipeline Through the Heart: A black neighborhood’s uphill battle against oil developers”
Carrington J. Tatum
MLK50.com
Judges’ comments: It’s rare enough to win against an eminent domain challenge; it’s even harder for people of color. So when Southwest Memphis residents were able to get the Byhalia Connection Pipeline shut down, it was a major victory. This victory may not have been possible without the dogged stories written by Carrington J. Tatum that gave Black residents the fortitude to fight. The issue got so big that even former Vice President Al Gore weighed in on the controversy.
Second Place
“The Fight to Vote”
Sam Levine
Guardian US
Third Place
“Still Cashing In”
Jay Hancock
Kaiser Health News
Best blog
First Place
Mary C. Curtis
Roll Call
Judges’ comments: Mary Curtis’ work is insightful and engaging. Her topics including race, politics and culture are more important than ever, at a time when we sorely need informed and reasoned voices to lead the discussion.
Second Place
“Systemic Disaster: Racism Riddles Response to COVID”
Derrick Z. Jackson, Union of Concerned Scientists
Third Place
“New Hampshire Primary Source”
John DiStaso
WMUR-TV
Online video up to 1 minute
First Place
“Oceanside students develop wheelchair attachment for first-grader”
Newsday staff
Newsday
Judges’ comments: A class bands together to create a solution that allows their wheelchair-mobile classmate to participate in play and phys ed. Well-told from multiple perspectives and heartwarming, who could ask for more?
Second Place
“Around The World Now in 60 Seconds”
Aaron Gilchrist, Alex Tabet, Andre Brooks, Evan Hirsch, Aaron Gilchrist and Alex Tabet
NBC News NOW / MSNBC
Third Place
“Gingerbread Joy”
WCVB-TV staff
WCVB-TV
Online video up to three minutes
First Place
“The Gift of Shelter After a Wildfire Disaster Destroys a Home”
Dan Wright and Andrea Rainone
The Weather Company | weather.com
Judges’ comments: This well-told tale of a man and his daughter providing housing for victims of disasters is a welcome reminder that goodness wins.
Second Place
“Climate Change: How we’re accelerating towards the perilous 2 degree milestone”
Al Roker, Brian Van Aken, Tristan Bresnen, Erin McGarry, Kathryn Prociv, Jordan Malter, Tom
Parrinello, Joey Cole
NBC News NOW / MSNBC
Third Place
“Vet Gets His Diploma”
WCVB-TV staff
WCVB-TV
Online video 3 to 10 minutes
First Place
“How marginalized communities in the South are paying for ‘green energy’ in Europe”
CNN staff
CNN
Judges’ comments: CNN exposes the environmental atrocities that plague marginalized communities. In this case, a rural, minority N.C. town where the forests are being clearcut to feed the EU’s clean-energy goals by creating biomass fuel from the trees. The destruction of the forests, the grinding of the trees, is creating its own ecological nightmare on the community in the name of clean energy.
Second Place
“A Segregation Wall Still Standing: The Legacy of Detroit’s Birwood Wall”
NBC News Digital and BridgeDetroit
NBC Universal
Third Place
“What It’s Like To Work At A Crematorium In India As The Death Toll Mounts”
Insider’s News and Documentary Team
Insider
Online video 10 to 30 minutes
First Place
“Disaster Road”
Brandon Clement, Andy Coates and Jonathan Petramala
The Weather Company | weather.com
Judges’ comments: This in-depth look at the impact of climate-change borne weather disasters tells the story of the communities and the people along I-10 from Texas to Florida. Riveting video and interviews make the issue come alive for viewers.
Second Place
“Afghanistan: The War at Home”
Richard Engel, On Assignment with Richard Engel Staff, NBC News Staff
NBC News
Third Place
“ABC News Prime: Wrongfully Accused”
ABC News staff
ABC News
Digital presentation of a single news topic
First Place
“Assault on Democracy: Paths to Insurrection”
CNN staff
CNN
Judges’ comments: CNN’s depth in exploring the roots of the Jan. 6 insurrection is both shocking and sobering. This piece drills into the why and hits a gusher.
Second Place
“Rebuilding Our Beach Dunes”
Rosanna Xia, Paul Duginski and Sean Greene
Los Angeles Times
Third Place
“Split Screen”
Sam Morris and Surya Mattu
The Markup
Digital presentation of a single features topic
First Place and BEST IN SHOW
“The Negro League Stars That MLB Kept Out — And Is Finally Recognizing”
ABC News staff
ABC News
Judges’ comments: Major League Baseball officially designated the Negro Leagues as having “Major League” status in December 2020, addressing a prejudice that persisted for more than 70 years after Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color line. Two months later, FiveThirtyEight published a remarkable story that used the publication’s facility with statistics and data visualizatons to place the Negro League players in their proper historical context, demonstrating the greatness of these players through statistical analysis and comparison that helps modern fans understand the kind of players these less-known Negro League players were by comparing their stats with current players and Hall of Famers. In FiveThirtyEight’s accessible and engaging visualizations, Josh Gibson is ranked second of all baseball hitters, behind only Babe Ruth. No one can ever recover the opportunities these athletes were denied because of the color of their skin, but FiveThirtyEight shows that we can still give them the place in baseball history they deserve. This work may point to other ways that data can be used to fill in lacunae in our shared history.
Second Place
“The Mechanism”
Cristina Caicedo Smit, Victor Castillo, Guadalupe Rincon, Jessica Jerreat, Amy Reifenrath and
Brian Williamson
Voice of America
Third Place
“Gamified NFT auction for a Fortune magazine cover”
Fortune Media Staff
Fortune Media
Social media
First Place
“Winter Freeze”
Dallas Morning News staff
Dallas Morning News
Judges’ comments: When the cold came and the power went, the Dallas Morning News made brilliant use of social media. Its use of SMS updates and Twitter and Instagram posts and videos not only kept its readers informed as conditions changed, but its interactive posts also served to connect them.
Second Place
Insider Social Media Team
Insider
No third-place award given
Narrative podcast
First Place
“Operator”
Topic Studios staff
Topic Studios
Judges’ comments: The little-known story behind the sex-phone industry packs a lot of sizzle, but what really sets it apart is how intriguing a story about technology, labor and business can be in a frontier start-up. Terrific, authentic characters from the era make all the difference.
Second Place
“Al Jazeera Investigates – Degrees of Abuse”
Al Jazeera I Unit
Al Jazeera Media Network
Third Place
“Broken Pledge”
Mike Wagner, Sheridan Hendrix and Patrick Flaherty
The Columbus Dispatch
Information podcast
First Place
“Squawk Pod – The Retail Rebellion”
Squawk Pod
CNBC
Judges’ comments: Fast-moving, slickly produced, information strong, CNBC’s “Squawk Pod” provides a fusillade of insight into the day’s market and economic news with intriguing guests.
Second Place
“Embodied”
Embodied Staff
North Carolina Public Radio WUNC
Third Place
“The Brainstorm podcast from Fortune”
Fortune Media Staff
Fortune Media
Criminal justice and/or crime podcast
First Place
“On Our Watch from NPR and KQED”
National Public Radio and KQED staff
National Public Radio and KQED
Judges’ comments: A massive project from NPR and KQED used a new California transparency law to get “the rest of the story” on cases of alleged police misconduct. The organizations established a network of news groups to feed in from local jurisdictions and then dug into the records to tell real-life stories of what happened. In gripping accounts from police audio records and more, the reality of front-line policing came to light. The reporting was so strong that it impacted the outcome of some individual cases and future legislation in California. Truly a great swath of journalism.
Second Place
“The Trials of Frank Carson”
Christopher Goffard
Los Angeles Times
Third Place
“Mommy Doomsday”
Joe Delmonico, Shane Bishop, Vincent Sturla, Linda Zhang and Keith Morrison
Dateline NBC
Online pandemic coverage/project
First Place
“Uncounted: The hidden death toll of the COVID-19 pandemic”
MuckRock, the Documenting COVID-19 project and USA TODAY network staff
MuckRock, the Documenting COVID-19 project and the USA TODAY network
Judges’ comments: Accurate reporting of deaths in a community is an important indicator of
regional health and has legal and historic significance. Either from shame, fear or for political
reasons, COVID deaths are going unreported in significant numbers in multiple jurisdictions.
Kudos to the Documenting COVID-19 project at MuckRock and Columbia University’s Brown
Institute for Media Innovation — working with the USA TODAY network — for bringing this
practice to light through text, video, links and graphics.
Second Place
“Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker”
Bloomberg staff
Bloomberg
Third Place
“Vaccine Equality”
Epicenter-NYC staff
Epicenter-NYC