From international conflicts to environmental concerns and issues that touch everyone's life, journalists are there for it all. They are tasked with telling people's stories and holding those in power accountable.
This year, the best in journalism will be recognized during the 71st Scripps Howard Awards, hosted by Scripps News' very own Christian Bryant.
“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.”
Veteran journalists and media professionals are tasked with picking the winners in 14 different categories, including excellence in breaking news and excellence in innovation.
The 71st Scripps Howard Journalism Awards finalists are:
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”
- 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”
- The Center for Investigative Reporting, Motto Pictures and Netflix – “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”
- MSNBC – “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, has 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
How to Watch
The Scripps Howard Awards will air on Scripps News on Sunday, Oct. 20 at 8 p.m. Eastern. It will also be streamed on the Scripps News YouTube channel.
The Scripps Howard Fund is the philanthropic arm of the E.W. Scripps Company, the parent company of Scripps News.
