Hunter College announced today that ProPublica has won two out of this year’s five James Aronson Awards for Social Justice Journalism. The winning stories are:
- Busted, by Ryan Gabrielson and Topher Sanders, spotlighted how police departments nationwide use roadside drug tests to send tens of thousands of people to jail each year, despite evidence that they routinely produce false positives. Their article told the story of a 43-year-old woman’s ordeal of being wrongfully convicted under the unreliable tests. “Kudos to the reporters for tracking down that woman, who did not know she was cleared,” said the contest judges. “And double kudos for their tenacity despite intimidation and bureaucratic blocking.”
- An investigation on abuses in the enforcement of nuisance abatement laws in New York City – which give police the power to evict people purportedly using their homes or business for illegal purposes – published in partnership with New York Daily News reporter Sarah Ryley. Judges hailed the series for breaking “a huge story about a deceptive and damaging law enforcement campaign in a way that combined great investigative reporting and real, human-scale journalism.”
See a full list of this year’s Aronson Award winners here.
