2020 Sigma Delta Chi Award Honorees
The Society of Professional Journalists is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2020 Sigma Delta Chi Awards for excellence in journalism.
Jump to:
• Deadline Reporting
• Continuous Coverage
• Investigative Reporting
• Feature Reporting
• Documentaries
• Editorials
• Column Writing
• Public Service
• Multiplatform Categories
• COVID-19 Reporting
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Howard & Ursula Dubin Foundation
Judges chose the winners from entries in categories covering print, radio, television and online. The awards recognize outstanding work published or broadcast in 2020.
Dating back to 1932, the awards originally honored six individuals for contributions to journalism. The current program began in 1939, when the Society granted the first Distinguished Service Awards. The honors later became the Sigma Delta Chi Awards.
Founded in 1909 as Sigma Delta Chi, SPJ promotes the free flow of information vital to a well-informed citizenry; works to inspire and educate the next generation of journalists; and protects First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press.
Deadline Reporting
Newspaper Deadline Reporting (Daily Circulation of 100,001+)
The killing of George Floyd
Staff, StarTribune
Newspaper Deadline Reporting (Daily Circulation 1-100,000)
The Nashville tornadoes
Staff, The Tennessean
Newspaper Deadline Reporting (Non-Daily)
Royta Giles shooting
Carol Robinson, Alabama Media Group
Read online: Link 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Breaking News Photography (Newspaper Circulation 100,001+ or Affiliated Website, National Magazine)
A racial reckoning in America: Minneapolis and George Floyd
Julio Cortez, The Associated Press
Breaking News Photography (Newspaper Cir. 1-100,000/Regional Magazine/ Non-Daily Publication)
George Floyd protest erupts in Philadelphia
Heather Khalifa from The Philadelphia Inquirer
Radio Breaking News Reporting (Market 1-100 or Network Syndication)
George Floyd protests
Doug Sovern, Keith Menconi and Peter Finch, KCBS Radio
Radio Breaking News Reporting (Market 101+)
Braintree Plaza shooting
Staff, WATD
Television Breaking News Coverage (Network/Syndication Service/Program Service)
George Floyd and the forces of change
Staff, CBS News
Television Breaking News Coverage (All Market Sizes)
Hurricane Zeta coverage
Staff, WDSU
Continuous Coverage
Newspaper Non-Deadline Reporting (Daily Circulation 100,001+)
Inside China’s coronavirus response
Financial Times team
Newspaper Non-Deadline Reporting (Daily Circulation 1-100,000)
Maricella’s Last Breath
Rory Linnane, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Newspaper Non-Deadline Reporting (Non-Daily Publication)
Economic Inequities
Shawn Donnan, Bloomberg Businessweek
Read online: Link 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
Washington Correspondence
California and the CARES Act
Sarah D. Wire, Los Angeles Times
Read online: Link 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
Foreign Correspondence
Individual lives under China’s crackdowns
Alice Su, Los Angeles Times
Read online: Link 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
Magazine Writing (National Circulation)
The Amish keep to themselves. And they're hiding a horrifying secret
Sarah McClure, Cosmopolitan and Type Investigations
Magazine Writing (Regional/Local Circulation)
The 1857 Project
Staff, Gateway Journalism Review
Informational Graphics (All Circulation Sizes)
Los Angeles County police killings database
Staff, Los Angeles Times
Online Non-Deadline Reporting
The Evidence Against Her
Justine van der Leun, Type Investigations/GEN
Online Video
Breonna Taylor’s Death How A 26-Year-Old Black Woman Was Killed By Police
Laura Strickler, Lisa Riordan Seville and Bianca Britton, NBC News
Data Visualization
New Climate Maps Show a Transformed United States
Al Shaw, Abrahm Lustgarten and Jeremy W. Goldsmith, ProPublica
Investigative Reporting
Newspaper Investigative Reporting (Daily Circulation 100,001+)
LSU sexual abuse scandal coverage
Kenny Jacoby, Nancy Armour and Jessica Luther, USA Today
Read online: Link 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
Newspaper Investigative Reporting (Daily Circulation 1-100,000)
Careless
Tony Cook, Emily Hopkins and Tim Evans, The Indianapolis Star
Read online: Link 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
Newspaper Investigative Reporting (Non-Daily Publication)
One system, (un)equal access: How the U.S. financial system is failing Black businesses and how that might change
Staffs, American City Business Journals and Portland Business Journal
Magazine Investigative Reporting (All Circulation Sizes)
Addicted to Profit
Cam Simpson, Michael Smith and Nacha Cattan, Bloomberg Businessweek
Read online: Link 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Radio Investigative Reporting (All Market Sizes)
Cash Flows: How Investors Are Banking On the West’s Water Scarcity
Luke Runyon, Heather Sackett, Bret Jaspers and Daniel Rothberg, KUNC
Television Investigative Reporting (Network/Syndication Service)
VA Ignores War's Signature Wound, Leaving Vets to Die
Jim Axelrod, Peter Burgess, Len Tepper and Michael Kaplan, CBS News/CBS This Morning
Television Investigative Reporting (All Market Sizes)
Prone
Chris Vanderveen, Chris Hansen, AJ Lagoe and Megan Jurgemeyer, KUSA-TV
Online Investigative Reporting
Potato Slaves: The cost of an H-2A visa in Texas
Almudena Toral, Patricia Clarembaux and Mauricio Rodríguez Pons, Univision News Digital
Feature Reporting
Newspaper Feature Reporting (Daily Circulation 100,001+)
The lives upended around a $20 cheeseburger
Jessica Contrera, The Washington Post
Newspaper Feature Reporting (Daily Circulation 1-100,000)
Politics, COVID and the search for truth: A death in a divided American family
Patrick Lohmann, The Post-Standard
Newspaper Feature Reporting (Non-Daily Publication)
COVID and the LGBTQ community
Victoria A. Brownworth, Philadelphia Gay News
Read online: Link 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
Feature Photography (Daily circulation 100,001+, Affiliated Website or National Magazine)
Serenity
Jonathan Levinson, Oregon Public Broadcasting
Feature Photography (Daily circulation 1-100,000, Regional Magazine, Non-Daily Publication or Online Independent)
Isolation
Jake May, Flint Journal
Sports Photography (All Circulation Sizes)
Freeze Tag
Robert Gauthier, Los Angeles Times
Radio Feature Reporting (Market 1-100 or Network Syndication)
Mississippi prisons in crisis
Walter Ray Watson, Vickie Walton-James and Debbie Elliott, NPR News
Radio Feature Reporting (Market 101+)
New York's declining prison population threatens North Country towns
Emily Russell and Natasha Haverty, North Country Public Radio
Television Feature Reporting (Network/Syndication Service/Program Service)
Grizzlies
Bill Whitaker, Rome Hartman, Sara Kuzmarov and Michael Mongulla, CBS News/60 Minutes
Television Feature Reporting (Large Market Station, 1-50 Market)
Land of 10,000 stories
Boyd Huppert and Chad Nelson, KARE-TV
Television Feature Reporting (Small Market Station, 51+ Market)
You are the Hero
Trevor Keller and Ryan Ward, PBS Wisconsin
Documentaries
Radio Documentaries (1-100 Market or Network Syndication)
The Moving Border
Maria Hinojosa, Julieta Martinelli, Diane Sylvester and Marlon Bishop, Latino USA
Radio Documentaries (101+ Market)
Oil & Water: 10 Years Later
Pat Duggins, Guy Busby and Lynn Oldshue, Alabama Public Radio
Television Documentaries (Network/Syndication Service/Program Service)
Tutwiler
Alysia Santo and Elaine McMillion Sheldon, The Marshall Project and FRONTLINE
Television Documentaries (All Market Sizes)
In the Shadow of Fairview
Kami Horton, Dan Evans, Todd Sonflieth and Nadine Jelsing, Oregon Public Broadcasting
Editorials
Editorial Writing newspaper (Daily Circulation 100,001+)
Robert Greene, Los Angeles Times
Read online: Link 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
Editorial Writing (Daily Circulation 1-100,000/Non-Daily Publication)
Jeffery Gerritt, Palestine Herald-Press
Editorial Cartooning (Newspaper Circulation 100,001+ or Affiliated Website/National Magazine)
Matt Davies, Newsday
Editorial Cartooning (Newspaper Circulation 1-100,000, Regional Magazine, Non-Daily Publication or Online Independent)
Nancy Ohanian, freelance cartoonist
Column Writing
Newspaper General Column Writing (Daily Circulation 100,001+)
James Rosen, Detroit Free Press
Read online: Link 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
Newspaper General Column Writing (Daily Circulation 1-100,000/Non-Daily Publication)
Kyle Whitmire, Alabama Media Group
Read online: Link 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
Sports Column Writing (Daily Circulation of 100,001+)
Kurt Streeter, The New York Times
Read online: Link 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
Sports Column Writing (Daily Circulation of 1-100,000/Non-Daily Publication)
Tom Archdeacon, Dayton Daily News
Read online: Link 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
Online Column Writing
Chandra Bozelko, Gannett/MoreContentNow
Public Service
Public Service in Newspaper Journalism (Daily Circulation 100,001+)
The killing of George Floyd
Staff, StarTribune
Read online: Link 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
Public Service in Newspaper Journalism (Daily Circulation 1-100,000)
Pandemic. Protests. Politics. A year at the center of three storms.
Staff, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Read online: Link 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
Public Service in Newspaper Journalism (Non-Daily Publication)
Remember Them
Staff, Philadelphia Gay News
Public Service in Magazine Journalism (All Circulation Sizes)
The risky business of breast implants
Maria Aspan of Fortune
Public Service in Radio Journalism (Market 1-100 or Network Syndication)
Land & Power
Margaret J. Krauss and Liz Reid, WESA
Public Service in Radio Journalism (Market 101+)
Child care during COVID-19: Struggles and solutions in the North Country
Staff, North Country Public Radio
Public Service in Television Journalism (Network/Syndication/Program Service)
The Opioid Playbook
Bill Whitaker, Sam Hornblower, Emilio Almonte and Matthew Danowski, CBS News/60 Minutes
Public Service in Television Journalism (All Market Sizes)
Prone
Chris Vanderveen, Chris Hansen, AJ Lagoe and Megan Jurgemeyer, KUSA-TV
Public Service in Online Journalism
Tracking the coronavirus
Staff, The New York Times
Read online: Link 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
Public Service in Newsletter Journalism
Everyday Health coronavirus updates
Staff, Everyday Health Group
Read online: Link 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
Multiplatform Categories
The John C. Ensslin Award for Podcast Excellence
Coronavirus: Fact vs. Fiction
CNN Audio
Collaborative Journalism
Nowhere to go
UMD’s Howard Center for Investigative Journalism and Capital News Service, University of Oregon, Stanford University, Arizona State University, University of Arkansas, Boston University and University of Florida
Fact-Checking
Trump on the stump
Staff, Factcheck.org
Video Game Reporting
Next Level
Zach Toombs, Matt Picht and Jennifer Smart, Newsy
Immersion Journalism
Inside the Storm
Staff, The Tennessean
Specialized Journalism Site
The COVID Tracking Project
Staff, The Atlantic
Inequalities in society
American Injustice
Reuters team
COVID-19 Reporting
COVID-19: Television Breaking News Coverage (All Market Sizes)
Inside the COVID-19 pandemic
Staff, NBC Nightly News
COVID-19: Breaking News Photography (All Circulation Sizes)
COVID-19’s toll on Latino communities
Carolyn Cole, Los Angeles Times
COVID-19: Data Visualization
What Coronavirus Job Losses Reveal About Racism in America
Lena V. Groeger, ProPublica
COVID-19: Digital Video
Go there: Fear and anxiety in epicenter of Wuhan coronavirus outbreak
Staff, CNN
COVID-19: Editorial Cartooning (All Circulation Sizes)
In/Vulnerable
Reveal staff, The Nib staff and artist Thi Bui
Learn more and download [revealnews.org]
COVID-19: Editorial Writing (All Circulation Sizes)
Michael Dobie, Newsday
COVID-19: Fact-Checking
Fighting the Infodemic
The staff of Lead Stories and Dean Miller
Read online: Link 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
COVID-19: Feature Photography (All Circulation Sizes)
The Fight of Their Lives
Meridith Kohut, TIME
COVID-19: Newspaper Feature Reporting (All Circulation Sizes)
Hitting Home: The pandemic’s indelible impact on five New Mexico towns
Staff, Searchlight New Mexico
COVID-19: Television Feature Reporting (All Market Sizes)
Mexico’s Hidden Toll
Staff, NBC News/MSNBC’s “On Assignment with Richard Engel”
COVID-19: General Column Writing (All Circulation Sizes)
Steve Politi, NJ Advance Media
Read online: Link 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
COVID-19: Informational Graphics (All Circulation Sizes)
COVID-19: Our explanatory graphics collection
The infographics team of the South China Morning Post
COVID-19: Magazine Writing (All Circulation Sizes)
The Fight of Their Lives
Simon Shuster, TIME
COVID-19: Non-Deadline Reporting Online
Pandemic Profiteers
Staff, ProPublica
Read online: Link 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
COVID-19: Non-Deadline Reporting (Daily Circulation of 100,001+)
America in Pain
Staff, The Associated Press
Read online: Link 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
COVID-19: Non-Deadline Reporting (Daily Circulation of 1-100,000)
Tragedy at Brighton
Natasha Lindstrom, Jamie Martines and Susan McFarland of Trib Total Media
Read online: Link 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
COVID-19: Non-Deadline Reporting (Non-Daily Publication)
Pandemic warnings unheeded
Staff, Bloomberg News
Read online: Link 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
COVID-19: Online Column Writing
Ernest Owens, Philadelphia Magazine
Read online: Link 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
COVID-19: Radio Feature Reporting (All Market Sizes)
Another COVID-19 medical mystery: Patients, post-ventilator, who don’t wake up
Martha Bebinger of WBUR