A Team Effort

States Newsroom has been hard at work this year with the launch of three new outlets in New Hampshire, Idaho and Montana, but what we continue to be most proud of are the talented journalists at our 22 outlets who are working tirelessly to provide critical coverage of statehouse news around the country.

We aren’t the only ones singing their praises. Below are honors our outlets have received recently:

Colorado Newsline won seven awards in the 2021 Top of the Rockies contest despite launching on July 1, 2020 and having just half a year’s worth of eligible reporting for consideration:

• Reporter Chase Woodruff took top honors in the category of business enterprise reporting for the outlet’s first article ever about relief money being given to the state’s oil and gas industry, as well as a general reporting award for a piece on the state’s inaction around clean-energy initiatives. Woodruff also received a third place award for a story on wildfires in the best solutions journalism category.
• Reporter Moe Clark took first place for an article on officials sweeping a homeless camp against CDC guidelines in the news reporting category and second place for a series of stories on housing and homelessness in the beat reporting category.
• Columnist Trish Zornio won second place in the news column category for a column on the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.
• Editor Quentin Young won third place in the news column category for a column on the dangers of mask deniers.

Sherman Smith, editor in chief of the Kansas Reflector was named journalist of the year by the Kansas Press Association based on his work last year including articles published on a foster care contractor’s misconduct, the state’s COVID-19 reporting policy, and “concerning” treatment of a child with autism by a Topeka police officer. Smith also received second place awards in both the government news category and the investigative story categories. The Kansas Press Association also honored a handful of other Reflector reporters, including top honors to opinion editor C.J. Janovy in the Seniors Story category, second place to columnist Max McCoy for column writing, and third place to reporter Noah Taborda in the education story category.

The Michigan Advance was named Newspaper of the Year by the Michigan Press Association in its circulation category. The Advance also won the top award for best COVID-19 coverage in the state with Ken Coleman, Susan J. Demas, Allison Donahue, Laina Stebbins, Anna Liz Nichols, C.J. Moore and Anna Gustafson contributing to coverage. In total the outlet won 19 awards across 12 news categories including Demas winning for best columnist and government/news reporting, Coleman winning first place for feature photo, Nichols and Demas winning first place for spot news story, the outlet winning best newspaper design, and more. Donahue also took home an honorable mention for Rookie of the Year. The full list of awards can be found here.

The Nevada Press Association awarded first place to Nevada Current reporter Jeniffer Solis for feature writing and second place to Hugh Jackson in the local column category. Pashtana Usufzy also won second place in the non-staff story category.

The Pennsylvania Capital-Star received four awards from the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association for its news reporting and commentary in the 2021 Keystone Media Awards:

• Reporter Stephen Caruso received a first place award in the Enterprise Reporting category for a series of COVID-19 articles on state human service workers being sent back to work, the closure of DHS offices, and human service workers not having access to COVID-19 leave. Caruso also received an honorable mention in the news beat reporting category.
• In the breaking news story category, reporters John L. Micek, Stephen Caruso, Cassie Miller and Hannah McDonald were awarded first place for an article on Joe Biden winning the state of Pennsylvania.
• Additionally, Micek received top honors in the column category.

Ned Oliver, a reporter for The Virginia Mercury, was named last year’s outstanding journalist by the Virginia Press Association for his reporting on how the state’s most vulnerable people were affected by COVID-19. In assessing his work, a VPA judge noted, “His stories are grounded by documents and well-chosen vignettes, woven together with clarity and force.” Oliver also won top honors for photography and public safety writing. Additionally, the Mercury won six other first place awards:

• Reporter Sarah Vogelsong won first place for investigative reporting and business writing, as well as a best-in-show award for reporting the response by state officials to COVID-19 in the state’s meat processing plants.
• Reporter Graham Moomaw won first place for government writing and feature writing.
• Columnist Roger Chesley won first place for column writing.

We are humbled by the recognition our teams are receiving for producing high-quality public service journalism and are inspired to continue our relentless statehouse reporting in the years to come.