Collaboration was key to producing some of the nation’s best journalism in 2018, based on the list of winners and finalists in the 66th Scripps Howard Awards, which were presented at Memorial Hall in Over-the-Rhine Thursday evening.
The Scripps Howard Foundation announced winners in 15 categories. Three of the winning entries and six of the finalists were the result of joint efforts between multiple news organizations. In the Business/Financial category, for example, “Implant Files” investigated the medical-device industry through a collaborative effort with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and more than 50 media partners.
“The level of newsroom collaboration we’ve seen across the 2018 entries is remarkable,” said Liz Carter, president and CEO of the Scripps Howard Foundation, in a press release. “The work submitted this year is a true testament to the power and necessity of journalism as witness to the most important events shaping our world, and we applaud all of the Scripps Howard Awards entrants for their enormous dedication to this work.”
The Scripps Howard Foundation also presented more than $170,000 in prize money to winning organizations at this year’s event, hosted by Michelle Miller, co-host of "CBS This Morning: Saturday." The ceremony will be rebroadcast April 21 on Newsy and will air on E.W. Scripps Co. stations throughout the summer.
“The E.W. Scripps Company congratulates the journalists and news organizations honored as this year’s best of the best,” said Scripps CEO Adam Symson in a press release. “The Scripps Howard Awards winners serve as another example of the critical role the free press plays as a check on our democracy.”
The 2018 Scripps Howard Award winners are:
- Breaking News: South Florida Sun Sentinel (Deerfield Beach) for “Parkland: A Breaking News Story that Demanded a Long-Term Commitment” – Coverage of the shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School.
- Broadcast – Local Coverage: KNTV (San Jose, California) for “Transgender Kids: A Changing Student Body” – A story exploring the issue of transgender reassignment decisions.
- Broadcast – National, International Coverage: MSNBC for “Putin’s Covert War” – An investigation into the main players in the 2016 election meddling story.
- Business/Financial Reporting: International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, NBC News Investigative Unit, Associated Press and more than 50 media partners for “Implant Files” – An investigation into the medical devices and implants industry and its related injuries and deaths.
- Community Journalism: Knoxville (Tennessee) News Sentinel for “The Devastation of TVA’s Coal Ash Spill” – Coverage of the workers who were sickened cleaning up the country’s worst coal ash spill.
- Environmental Reporting: National Geographic for “Planet or Plastic?” – Reporting on the alarming volume of plastic in our world.
- Distinguished Service to the First Amendment: The Dallas Morning News for “Pain and Profit” – An investigation into the failures in Texas’ privatized Medicaid system.
- Human Interest Storytelling: The New York Times and ProPublica for “Blood Will Tell” – An investigation of a forensic technique used in the criminal justice system, despite concerns about its reliability.
- Innovation: BBC for “Anatomy of a Killing” – A project that used forensic analysis of viral video footage to prove the occurrence of a series of executions in Cameroon, Africa.
- Investigative Reporting: Reuters for “Myanmar Burning” – Reporting on the expulsion of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.
- Multimedia Journalism: Frontline PBS and The GroundTruth Project for “The Last Generation: An Interactive Film on the Marshall Islands” – A collaborative reporting project on climate change and its effect on the population of the Marshall Islands.
- Opinion: Palestine (Texas) Herald-Press for “What Are They Hiding?” – Commentary that questioned two issues affecting the Palestine community: an athletic commission’s treatment of a football player and the state of Texas’ rush to execute condemned prisoners.
- Radio/Podcast: Michigan Radio for “Believed” – A podcast that tells the stories of survivors of abuse by former Olympic gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar.
- Topic of the Year: Midterm Elections: Vice News for “She’s Running” – A four-part web series on female candidates running for office in the 2018 midterm elections.
- Visual Journalism: Marcus Yam of the Los Angeles Times for his newspaper photojournalism portfolio.
A full list of all awards and finalists with commentary by judges can be found here.
