NPC showcases more great journalism with honorable mention award winners
Judges of the National Press Club’s 2020 journalism awards, faced with an abundance of great journalism, also cited a number of entries for honorable mentions.
Honorable mentions included VICE News for its broadcast package on "Bringing down Baghdadi;" CBS Sunday Morning, for its look at the growing influence of Dollar Stores, which often run local grocery stores out of business, and Karin Brulliard of The Washington Post for her coverage of the failure of U.S. government agencies, primarily the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to protect a variety of wild and domestic animals covered under the Animal Welfare Act.
The award winners will be celebrated in a virtual event December 2 at 7 p.m.
Reuters won top awards for consumer journalism and foreign coverage, while VICE News won first place for news photo journalism and best young journalist in the National Press Club’s 2020 journalism awards. NBC News won top broadcast awards for consumer journalism and for foreign coverage.
National Press Club past president Jonathan Salant of NJ Advance Media won for best Washington Regional Reporting. Cameron Joseph of VICE News won the Sandy Hume Memorial Award for young journalists. Michael Bender of The Wall Street Journal won the Lee Walczak Award for his coverage of Donald Trump’s most effective campaign weapon: his political rallies.
Natasha Daly of National Geographic won the Ann Cottrell Free Animal Reporting Award for “The Hidden Cost of Wildlife Tourism.” And a team from WRC-TV won for its coverage of the State Department’s failure to protect dogs used in its war on terror.
Valerie Insinna of Defense News won the Michael Dornheim Award for her in-depth feature series, “The Hidden Troubles of the F-35.”
The full list of winners and honorable mentions:
Winners
Consumer Journalism-Newspapers: The investigative Reuters series, "Hidden Injustice," sheds light on how the judicial practice of sealing court files and evidence has been manipulated by corporate America to hide public health and safety information, often with deadly results.
Consumer Journalism-Periodicals: “Hidden Harm” by Christina Jewett of Kaiser Health News looked at a secret government database of medical device malfunctions and offered compelling stories of the harm caused by these malfunctions.
Consumer Journalism-Broadcast: An NBC News Investigative Unit used Freedom of Information Act requests to dig out information and reveal for the first time how many fans are injured by foul balls during major league baseball games.
Washington Regional Reporting Award: Jonathan Salant of NJ Advance Media for a variety of political stories that looked at the link between power and campaign money.
Edwin M Hood for Diplomatic Correspondence:
Print: Reuters reporters Christopher Bing and Joel Schectman, for their entry “Project Raven” that used on-the-record interviews with ex-NSA spies and a review of thousands of documents to show how a program to help the United Arab Emirates prevent the next 9/11 attack went off the rails.
Broadcast: NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel for his report “American Betrayal.” In this hour-long special report, Engel chronicled President Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. forces from northern Syria
Newsletter Journalism: E&E News and reporter Jeremy Jacobs for his September 2019 series: “Bloodbath: Red Ink Pours Over Northwest Dams.”
Joan M. Friedenberg Online Journalism Award: Disaster in the Pacific, by ProPublica. The entry did a good job in presenting stories graphically about naval accidents in the Pacific, including some that involved multiple fatalities.
Sandy Hume Memorial Award for Excellence in Political Journalism: VICE News reporter Cameron Joseph was the winner for stories on a variety of topics that were well reported, well written and creative.
Joseph D. Ryle Award for Excellence in Writing on the Problems of Geriatrics: Rick Tetzeli of Fortune for a fascinating look at a botanist far outside the ranks of conventional researchers as he pursues a cure for Alzheimer's disease.
Angele Gingras Humor Award: Kaarin Vembar of Retail Dive for her clever columns on the retail business.
Ann Cottrell Free Animal Reporting Award – Print: The Hidden Cost of Wildlife Tourism: People who love animals can unknowingly fuel their suffering, by Natasha Daly of National Geographic.
Ann Cottrell Free Animal Reporting Award – Broadcast: “Dying for Diplomacy” - A year-long investigation by WRC-TV revealed that the U.S. Department of State was failing to protect many of the specially trained dogs it deployed in the war on terror.
Michael A. Dornheim Award: Valerie Insinna, Air Warfare Reporter for Defense News, is getting the award for her in-depth feature series, “The Hidden Troubles of the F-35.”
Lee Walczak Award for Political Analysis: Michael Bender of The Wall Street Journal for “Trump’s Re-Election Playbook,” a series of stories about the core of Trump’s 2016 secret weapon: campaign rallies,
Breaking News Award: No winner this year.
News Photo Award: VICE News’ Adam Desiderio’s winning images capture personal stories of the victors and the victims of the Battle of Baghouz, Syria—a last stronghold of an Isis caliphate.
Honorable Mentions
Consumer Journalism-Newspapers: Hidden Harm by Christina Jewett, of Kaiser Health News looked at the harm caused _ including to patients _ by a secret government database of medical device malfunctions.
Consumer Journalism-Broadcast: On assignment for CBS Sunday Morning, NPR Correspondent Allison Aubrey reported on the proliferation of Dollar Stores around the country that has seen them become the largest U.S. retailer by number of outlets, with more stores than McDonald’s and Starbucks combined. The stores carry highly processed food products at bargain prices and that has pushed many locally owned groceries out of business.
Washington Regional Reporting Award: Nick Grube of Honolulu for his coverage of Hawaii politics, including coverage of Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, her mysterious campaign consultant and the religious sect to which they belong takes the reader from Washington, D.C. to the wilderness of Washington state.
Arthur Rowse Award for Press Criticism
Print: Michael Calderone looked at a variety of issues for Politico, including fact-checking during the Democratic primaries at a time when the incumbent president routinely stretches the truth, and journalism dealing with President Trump's use of race themes to advance his agenda.
Broadcast: Katie Tur and Jacob Soboroff of MSNBC on the American Swamp, a look at the Trump administration and its claim that it is ‘draining the swamp.’ The package looked at a wide range of perspectives on this front.
Edwin M Hood for Diplomatic Correspondence
Print: Fortune foreign correspondent Vivienne Walt for her article “Boxed In at the Docks.” In this well-written feature, Walt lays out China’s effort to dominate global trade by controlling strategic harbors around the world.
Broadcast: VICE News Correspondents Isobel Yeung and Seb Walker for “Bringing Down Baghdadi.” Four days after President Donald Trump announced the U.S. had killed ISIS founder, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, VICE News aired “Bringing Down Baghdadi,” providing viewers a deep understanding of the operation, and what Baghdadi’s death portends for security in the region.
Joan M. Friedenberg Online Journalism Award: Vox for its package on Supertrees. This package was about three species of trees that help fight climate change, produce rainfall and support other species
Joseph D. Ryle Award for Excellence in Writing on the Problems of Geriatrics: Yuka Hayashi of The Wall Street Journal for two well reported stories with practical advice for individuals and families. She discusses financial aps that can make life easier and safer as people deal with the issues of aging. The second story provides a warning about bad nursing homes.
Ann Cottrell Free Animal Reporting Award – Print: Karin Brulliard of The Washington Post. Brulliard’s hard-hitting series of stories in 2019 had one common theme --- the failure of US government agencies, primarily the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to protect a variety of wild and domestic animals covered under the Animal Welfare Act.
Ann Cottrell Free Animal Reporting Award – Broadcast: Scott Taylor, WJLA-TV, ABC 7 News, Washington D.C. After obtaining undercover footage of horrific abuse of cows at a dairy that supplied milk to Nestle USA, Scott Taylor and his team at WJLA launched an investigation that resulted in the suspension of the contract, termination of the employees responsible, industry disciplinary action and a criminal investigation.
Michael A. Dornheim Award: Marina Koren of The Atlantic, for her reporting on the various — and unique — aspects of the nation’s space program, from Neil Armstrong’s heart rate while landing on the Moon to SpaceX’s mismanagement of urgent e-mails.
Lee Walczak Award for Political Analysis: David Levinthal of the Center for Public Integrity for his deeply reported story: “Why the Trump campaign won’t pay police bills,” published with NBC News and CNBC.