Finalists announced for 71st Scripps Howard Journalism Awards

CINCINNATI, Sept. 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Scripps Howard Fund will honor the best in American journalism during the 71st Scripps Howard Journalism Awards on Oct. 20. From excellence in breaking news and investigative reporting – to visual storytelling and opinion writing, this year's finalists produced journalism that not only informed but transformed.

The Scripps Howard Journalism Awards, one of the nation's most prestigious journalism competitions, honor work from television stations and networks, radio and podcasts, visual media, online media outlets, independent producers, newspapers and print publications.

"The journalism produced by this year's finalists exposed wrongdoing, held the powerful accountable, shaped policies and helped correct historical records," said Meredith Delaney, president and CEO of the Scripps Howard Fund. "The 71st Scripps Howard Journalism Awards will shine a light on the responsibility these journalists have to tell their community's stories – and serve as democracy's watchdog."  

The Scripps Howard Journalism Awards judges – a panel of veteran journalists and media leaders – selected this year's finalists from 775 entries across 14 categories. The Fund will present $170,000 in prize money to the winning news organizations and journalists.

The winners will be announced during a special program airing at 8 p.m. ET on Sunday, Oct. 20, on Scripps News. The awards show, hosted by Christian Bryant, also will reveal the winner of the coveted Impact Award, which is chosen from the finalists of the other 14 categories. The award honors the journalism that produced the greatest impact.

The 71st Scripps Howard Journalism Awards finalists are:

View the gallery of finalists here.

Excellence in Audio Storytelling, honoring Jack R. Howard
Rococo Punch and iHeart Podcasts – "The Turning: Room of Mirrors"
Serial Productions and The New York Times – "The Retrievals"
The Boston Globe in association with HBO Documentary Films – "Murder in Boston"

Excellence in Breaking News
The Associated Press – "Deadly Maui Wildfires"fall
Lookout Santa Cruz – "Santa Cruz County Storms"
Los Angeles Times – "A Massacre in Monterey Park"

Excellence in Business/Financial Reporting
KFF Health News – "Payback: Tracking the Opioid Settlement Cash"
ProPublica and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in collaboration with the Medill Investigative Lab – "With Every Breath: Millions of Breathing Machines. One Dangerous Defect"
The New York Times – "Alone and Exploited"

Excellence in Environmental Reporting, honoring Edward W. "Ted" Scripps II
San Francisco Chronicle – "Firefighters are Being Poisoned by Wildfire Smoke. We're Doing Little to Protect Their Health"
The New York Times – "Uncharted Waters"
The Washington Post – "The Human Limit"

Distinguished Service to the First Amendment, honoring Edward Willis Scripps
Hearst Connecticut Media Group – "Transparency Failures Sow Distrust in City Marred by Corruption"
Open Vallejo – "'No Responsive Records': How Vallejo Hid Killings by Police"
The Kansas City Star and The Wichita Eagle – "Marion Record Raid"

Excellence in Innovation, honoring Roy W. Howard
ProPublica – "Roots of an Outbreak"
ProPublica and The Desert Sun – "Thirsty Valley"
The Washington Post – "3D Analyses of Violence in the West Bank"

Excellence in Local/Regional Investigative Reporting
City Bureau and Invisible Institute – "Missing in Chicago"
Miami Herald – "The Foreclosure Franchise"
The Cincinnati Enquirer, The Columbus Dispatch, Akron Beacon Journal, Canton Repository – "Chaos in Ohio's Youth Lockups"

Excellence in Local Video Storytelling, honoring Jack R. Howard
KARE-TV Minneapolis – "KARE 11 Investigates: Broken Promises"
KUSA-TV Denver and WTSP-TV – "UNDETERMINED"
New York Amsterdam News – "Be-Loved"

Excellence in Multimedia Journalism
The Associated Press – "Adrift"
Reuters – "The Bat Lands"
The Boston Globe – "Nightmare in Mission Hill"

Excellence in Narrative Human-Interest Storytelling, honoring Ernie Pyle
NPR – "Ukraine Kindergarten"
The Boston Globe – "Nightmare in Mission Hill"
The Texas Tribune – "She Was Told Her Twin Sons Wouldn't Survive. Texas Law Made Her Give Birth Anyway."

Excellence in National/International Investigative Reporting, the Ursula and Gilbert Farfel Prize
ProPublica – "Friends of the Court"
Reuters – "The Musk Industrial Complex"
The New York Times – "Alone and Exploited"

Excellence in National/International Video Storytelling, honoring Jack R. Howard
FRONTLINE (PBS) – "Clarence and Ginni Thomas: Politics, Power and the Supreme Court"
FRONTLINE (PBS) and The Associated Press – "20 Days in Mariupol"
Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting – "Victim/Suspect"

Excellence in Opinion Writing
Coda Story and Ukrainska Pravda – "Fallout: Tracking the Global Impacts of Russia's War in Ukraine"
Los Angeles Times – "Inside Out: Normalizing Incarceration to Increase Public Safety"
The Washington Post – "Men are lost. Here's a map out of the wilderness"

Excellence in Visual Human-Interest Storytelling
El Paso Times – "Dreams, despair & death – A migrant's journey. A year of covering the Immigration crisis"

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution – "The South Got Something To Say"
NBC News – "On Assignment with Richard Engel: Ukraine's Secret Resistance"

The Scripps Howard Fund, in partnership with the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication also announced the winners and finalists for its two journalism education awards:

Teacher of the Year
Winner: Nicole Kraft, The Ohio State University
Finalist: Leon Alligood, Middle Tennessee State University

Administrator of the Year
Winner: Ann Brill, University of Kansas
Finalist: Laura Lindenfeld, Stony Brook University

These national awards recognize excellence in teaching and administration within journalism and communication programs. Both awards were presented at the 2024 AEJMC Conference in August.

Learn more about past Scripps Howard Journalism Award winners at SHJAwards.org.

Media contact: Molly Miossi, The E.W. Scripps Company, 513-977-3713, [email protected] 

About the Scripps Howard Fund
The Scripps Howard Fund, a public charity established by The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP), is dedicated to creating informed and engaged communities through journalism education, childhood literacy and local causes. At the crossroads of the classroom and the newsroom, the Fund is a leader in supporting journalism through scholarships, internships, minority recruitment and development and First Amendment causes. The Scripps Howard Awards stand as one of the industry's top honors for outstanding journalism. The Fund's annual "If You Give a Child a Book …" childhood literacy campaign has distributed thousands of new books to children in need across the nation. The Fund partners with Scripps brands to create awareness of local issues and support organizations that build thriving communities. The Scripps Howard Fund administers funding for the Scripps Howard Foundation, a private foundation established in 1962 to advance charitable causes important to The E.W. Scripps Company and the Scripps and Howard families.  

SOURCE The E.W. Scripps Company