SPJ-DC announces Dateline Awards winners
June 12, 2018
For immediate release
WASHINGTON — The Washington, D.C., Pro chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists awarded its 2018 Dateline Awards for journalism excellence on June 12 at its annual Hall of Fame Dinner at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
The reporting team from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, The New York Times, The Guardian US and more than 90 other media partners won this year’s prestigious Robert D.G. Lewis Award for “Paradise Papers: Secrets of the global elite.”
The Robert D.G. Lewis Award, which comes with a $1,000 prize, is presented to the Dateline Awards entry that best exemplifies journalism aimed at protecting the public from abuses by those who would betray the public trust.
Other awards were presented to winners for their excellence in TV, radio, newspaper, magazine, newsletter/trade publication, and online journalism.
The chapter also inducted three journalists into its Hall of Fame:
- Sonya Ross, the race & ethnicity editor for The Associated Press
- Tom Sherwood of WAMU, who covered politics for 28 years for NBC’s Channel 4
- Robert Siegel, who retired after 41 years at National Public Radio
The chapter also gave its Distinguished Service Award to Gene Policinski, the president and COO of the Newseum Institute and First Amendment Center.
Congratulations to the Dateline Awards winners and the finalists, and to their news organizations:
Robert D.G. Lewis Award
Winner: Reporting Team, International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, The New York Times, The Guardian US and more than 90 other media partners, “Paradise Papers: secrets of the global elite”
— NEWSPAPERS —
DAILY
Non-Breaking News
Winner: Rowan Scarborough, The Washington Times, “Non-Citizen Voting”
Finalist: Jeff Mordock, The Washington Times, “NFL banks billions on backs of taxpayers”
Finalist: Jeff Mordock, The Washington Times, “Twitter’s ‘transparency center’ to label, share information on political ads”
Breaking News
Winner: Staff, The Washington Times, “‘Resist’ shooter targets GOP”
Features
Winner: Laura Kelly, The Washington Times, “Rehab and Education”
Finalist: Nicole Ault, The Washington Times, “Seeds to suds”
Sports
Winner: Nora Princiotti, The Washington Times, “Staying grounded”
Finalist: Todd Dybas, The Washington Times, “Taylor’s influence still felt in decade after death”
Business
Winner: Jeff Mordock, The Washington Times, “Inventor battles with Fed in ‘David vs. Goliath’ story”
Art/Photo
Winner: Greg Groesch, The Washington Times
Finalist: Linas Garsys, The Washington Times
Finalist: Alexander Hunter, The Washington Times
Front-Page Design
Winner: John Bourantas, Robert Cohn, George Lanum, The Washington Times
Column
Winner: Charles Hurt, The Washington Times
Finalist: Thom Loverro, The Washington Times
Finalist: Deborah Simmons, The Washington Times
Series
Winner: Guy Taylor, Dan Boylan, The Washington Times, “Vlad’s vengeance”
Editorial Cartoon
Winner: Alexander Hunter, The Washington Times
Beat Reporting
Winner: Maria Recio, Austin-American Statesman, “When Washington meets Texas”
WEEKLY
Non-breaking News
Winner: Michael K. Lavers, The Washington Blade, “Puerto Ricans with HIV/AIDS continue to struggle after Maria”
Finalist: Michael K. Lavers, The Washington Blade, “LGBT migrants flee violence, poverty in Central America”
Breaking News
Winner: Joey DiGuglielmo, Michael Key, The Washington Blade, “No Justice No Pride protestors disrupt Capital Pride parade/Pride protest ignites stormy debate in D.C.’s LGBT community”
Features
Winner: Joey DiGuglielmo, The Washington Blade, “New co-pastors settle into life at Calvary Baptist”
Finalist: Jody Fellows, The Falls Church News-Press, “The Little City’s restaurant revolution”
Finalist: Judy Kurtz, The Hill, “A noisy political climate, but protest songs are silent”
Finalist: Lauren Poteat, The Washington Informer, “Jesse Jackson’s message to millennials: Be vigilant, stand guard”
Sports
Winner: Syl Sobel, The Gaithersburg Town Courier, “Coverage of 2017 Quince Orchard boys basketball team”
Editorial/Opinion Writing
Winner: Kevin Naff, The Washington Blade, “Stop eating our own”
Photojournalism
Winner: Benjamin Burgess, Street Sense Media, “’Where else can we go?’ ask residents of an embattled D.C. homeless encampment”
Commentary & Criticism
Winner: Joey DiGuglielmo, The Washington Blade, “Ramirez balances taste, restraint with solid technique at First Baptist recital”
Photography Story
Winner: Michael Key, Joey DiGuglielmo, Lou Chibbaro Jr., The Washington Blade, “No Justice No Pride protestors disrupt Capital Pride parade”
Column
Winner: Juan Williams, The Hill
— MAGAZINE —
Features
Winner: Luke O’Brien, The Atlantic, “The making of an American Nazi”
Finalist: Erin Bacon, CQ Magazine, “Predatory behavior”
Investigative Journalism
Winner: Luke O’Brien, The Atlantic, “The making of an American Nazi”
Infographic
Winner: Shawn Zeller, Marilyn Gates-Davis, CQ Magazine, “Performance Review”
— TELEVISION —
Non-breaking News
Winner: Tracie Potts, Sheila Conlin, Nelson Ginebra, Steve Muskat, Tom Newberry, NBC News Channel, “Forgotten voices: the health care story”
Features
Winner: Steven Goodman, John Enslin, Abdulkader Tayob, Vanessa Valkin, Makhosandile Ndzuzo, UDCTV, “Higher Education Today — Religion and Spirituality on Campus”
Finalist: Steven Goodman, Ruth Westheimer, Michael Grabowski, Will Lamparelli, Edward Jones, UDCTV, “Higher Education Today — Dr. Ruth, sex on campus”
Finalist: Steven Goodman, Daniel Golden, Robert Barry, David Barnes, Marcus White, UDCTV, “Higher Education Today — Spy schools”
Commentary & Criticism
Winner: Adam Longo, WUSA-TV, “Adam’s take”
— RADIO —
Non-Breaking News
Winner: Staff, WTOP-FM, “Charlottesville protests”
Breaking News
Winner: Staff, WTOP-FM, “Congressional baseball shooting”
Features
Winner: Jason Fraley, WTOP-FM, “Writing La La Land”
Finalist: Michelle Basch, WTOP-FM, “Survivor”
Sports
Winner: Staff, WTOP-FM
Business
Winner: Jeff Clabaugh, WTOP-FM
Investigative Journalism
Winner: Megan Cloherty, WTOP-FM, “Carlos Bell”
Commentary & Criticism
Winner: Chris Core, WTOP-FM, “Core Values”
Series
Winner: J.J. Green, WTOP-FM, “Anatomy of a Russian attack”
Finalist: Jamie Forzato, WTOP-FM, “Hooked on heroin: deadlier than ever”
Finalist: Megan Cloherty, WTOP-FM, “Robo rage”
Beat Reporting
Winner: J.J. Green, WTOP-FM
— NEWSLETTERS/TRADE PUBLICATIONS —
Non-breaking News
Winner: Staff, Communications Daily, “Government transparency under President Trump”
Finalist: Matt Daneman, David Kaut, Jonathan Make, Monty Tayloe, Communications Daily, “FCC treatment of media”
Finalist: Dee Ann Divis, Inside GNSS, “If you can’t beat them, change the game”
Breaking News
Winner: Jenny Leonard, Inside U.S. Trade, “U.S. could begin process of withdrawing from KORUS next week”
Finalist: Justin Doubleday, Inside the Pentagon, “Industry concerned about Pentagon plan to ‘lock in’ one cloud services provider”
Features
Winner: Amy McCullough, Air Force Magazine, “Israel Del Toro: like a phoenix”
Finalist: William Hoke, Tax Analysts, “Russian tax break could benefit citizens sanctioned by U.S. for tax lawyer’s death”
Finalist: Natalie Kroc, HR Magazine, “Reality reboot”
Finalist: Donald Tepper, Chris Hayhurst, Lois Douthitt, PT in Motion, “When the workplace turns violent”
Editorial/Opinion Writing
Winner: Paul Fletcher, Virginia Lawyers Weekly, “Put an end to client-shaming”
Business
Winner: Staff, Communications Daily
Investigative Journalism
Winner: Paul Goldberg, Matthew Ong, The Cancer Letter, “A coup d’état, and a $12M deal at the University of Utah”
Finalist: Adam Bender, Howard Buskirk, Communications Daily, “state and local telecom”
Finalist: Paige Jones, Lauren Loricchio, Tax Analysts, “Lifting the veil on state tax policymaking”
Finalist: Adam Bender, Howard Buskirk, Matt Daneman, David Kaut, Monty Tayloe, “Communications Daily, “Hurricanes’ impact on telecom”
Art/Photo Illustration
Winner: Katherine Goldberg, The Cancer Letter, “Oncology as art in 2017”
Infographic
Winner: Donald Tepper, Lois Douthitt, PT in Motion, “By the Numbers”
Front Page Design
Winner: Jacqueline Ong, Katherine Goldberg, The Cancer Letter, “43 Years Later: A Redesign of The Cancer Letter”
Column
Winner: Paul Fletcher, Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Finalist: Dee Ann Divis, Inside Unmanned Systems, “Autonomous horizons”
Series
Winner: Donald Tepper, Michele Wojciechowski, Lois Douthitt, PT in Motion, “The benefits of sharing professional experiences” and “The value of patients sharing experiences”
Finalist: Matthew Ong, The Cancer Letter, “Real-world data: a new frontier in cancer bioinformatics”
Beat Reporting
Winner: Jenny Leonard, Inside U.S. Trade, “The Trump trade agenda — exposing the new playbook”
Finalist: Allyson Versprille, Bloomberg Tax, “Corporate tax”
Finalist: Kaustuv Basu, Laura Davison, Colleen Murphy, Bloomberg Tax, “Congressional tax policy”
Finalist: Lee Hudson, Inside Washington Publishers, “Pentagon’s most expensive acquisition program continues to encounter hurdles”
— ONLINE —
Non-breaking News
Winner: Liz Essley Whyte, Ryan J. Foley, David Jordan, Chris Zubak-Skees, Ben Wieder, The Center for Public Integrity and The Associated Press, “Conflicted interests”
Finalist: Staff, Capital News Service, “Pedestrian accidents pile up on state roads across Maryland”
Finalist: Rachel Wilson, Chris Zubak-Skees, Dave Levinthal, Carrie Levine, Christina Wilkie, The Center for Public Integrity and The Associated Press,
“Buying of the President: Uncovering financial secrets in the age of Trump”
Finalist: Sharon Guynup, Mongabay, “Proposed Trump policy threatens critically endangered Grauer’s gorilla”
Features
Winner: Sharon Guynup, Steve Winter, National Geographic, “How Syrian zoo animals escaped a war-ravaged city”
Finalist: Jack Moore, WTOP.com, “Educating Amy”
Finalist: Omama Altaleb, WTOP.com, “New country, new life”
Sports
Winner: Noah Frank, WTOP
Business
Winner: Sarah Kleiner, The Center for Public Integrity, “Veterans charity raises millions to help those who’ve served. But telemarketers are pocketing most of it”
Finalist: Susan Ferriss, The Center for Public Integrity, “Trump Country trade-offs”
Finalist: CJ Mitchell, Capital News Service, “Elon Musk hyperloop may have terminus near Camden Yards”
Investigative Journalism
Winner: Reporting Team, International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, The New York Times, The Guardian US and more than 90 other media partners, “Paradise Papers: secrets of the global elite”
Finalist: Patrick Malone, Peter Cary, R. Jeffrey Smith, Chris Zubak-Skees, The Center for Public Integrity, “Nuclear negligence”
Finalist: Ethan Barton, The Daily Caller News Foundation, “American cartel: Billionaire family behind OxyContin apparently spends zilch rehabbing addicts”
Commentary & Criticism
Winner: Dave Levinthal, The Center for Public Integrity, “Transparency in Trump’s first year”
Finalist: Brendan Smith, Washington Diplomat and Bmoreart, “Exploring the arts in the nation’s Capital”
Photography Story
Winner: David Dildine, WTOP, “Ghost roads”
Infographic
Winner: Reporting Team, International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, “Paradise Papers: Secrets of the Global Elite”
Series
Winner: Environmental reporting team, The Center for Public Integrity, “A century of domination: As America’s carbon wars rage, oil and gas industry influence grows”
Finalist: Rachel Nania, WTOP.com, “Child care crisis”
Finalist: Staff, WTOP.com, “The wharf”
Finalist: Nicole Reisinger, Asia Hester, Candice Spector, Julia Bryant, Hannah Lang, Capital News Service, “Dangerous reporting”