ProPublica was honored with four Online Journalism Awards, the most of any news organization, at the Online News Association Conference on Saturday.
ProPublica won its fifth Online Journalism Award for General Excellence, which honors a digitally focused news organization that successfully fulfills its editorial mission, effectively serves its audience, maximizes the use of digital tools and platforms and represents the highest journalistic standards. ProPublica previously won this award in 2009, 2012, 2014 and 2018.
“Powerless,” a Local Reporting Network project with the Charleston Gazette-Mail, won for explanatory reporting. The multimedia package by Ken Ward Jr. and Kate Mishkin of the Gazette-Mail, and ProPublica’s Al Shaw and Mayeta Clark, used a variety of innovative tools, including drone footage and time-lapse videos, to allow readers to experience how it looks and sounds when natural gas companies take over local land.
Electionland won in the category of excellence in collaboration and partnerships. The project brought together more than 120 local and national newsrooms across the country to cover voting the 2018 midterm elections. The prize went to ProPublica and Electionland Coalition, which is made up of newsrooms, journalists, students, researchers, educators and technologists. Electionland previously won an Online Journalism Award in the “planned news” category in 2016.
“Case Cleared: How Rape Goes Unpunished in America” won an Al Neuharth Innovation in Investigative Journalism Award. The series, in partnership with Newsy and Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting, uncovered how police agencies use a designation called “exceptional clearance” to make it seem as though they’ve solved a significant number of rape cases when they’ve simply closed them without making an arrest. ProPublica reporter Bernice Yeung, Reveal’s Emily Harris, and Newsy’s Mark Greenblatt and Mark Fahey contributed to the project.
Additionally, ProPublica assistant managing editor Sisi Wei was among those recognized with the ONA Community Award for work as Journalists of Color Slack administrators. As volunteers, this group has helped to create a community that puts journalists of color in the same “room,” allowing them to engage in a support network that travels with them throughout their careers.
See a list of all the Online Journalism Award winners here.
