This year, I received two Dateline Awards for Excellence in Local Journalism (for Online Editorial Cartoon and for Art/Photo Illustration). My DCist editorial cartoon was about D.C.’s Black Lives Matter street mural and my illustrated reporting for DCist covered the 2020 March on Washington.
Both works were a bit of a risk because, as far as I know, DCist has never published comics reporting. Editorial illustrations are also pretty rare for the outlet. To me, using illustrations and comics to report on Black Lives Matter revealed nuances in D.C.’s response to the protests that other outlets missed. It also allowed me to build off of DCist’s robust local coverage. I hoped my visual reporting would capture the feeling of what these days were like, but also memorialize questions that lingered after the protests. I wanted to expand the idea of what local reporting could be.
I’m so grateful for this recognition from the Washington SPJ chapter because it shows that others see the value in using illustrations in journalism. I want to continue exploring different ways to tell stories and I hope these awards make it possible for me to do more of this work.
Editor’s Note: You can see more of her work at her website Ruth Tam.