Here's how The Dispatch inspired and improved the community in 2023

Great journalism has the power to inform, educate and create lasting impact, whether by holding the powerful to account, righting a wrong, telling an interesting story about someone or something, or just making the world a better place.

It's what The Columbus Dispatch aspires to do every day in ways both big and small.

Last year was no different as The Dispatch illustrated the carnage, heartbreak and destruction that gun violence has left on our communities, uncovered more than 40 years of sexual abuse by hundreds of Ohio physicians that was shrouded in secrecy and, in many cases, went unpunished, and previous reporting by the newspaper resulted in the indictment of top Columbus zoo officials for theft, bribery and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity.

While the list is too long to go into every story that made a difference, here is more on those and a few other examples:

Ohio youth prison investigation spurs action from Gov. Mike DeWine

The Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer and USA TODAY’s network of Ohio newspapers published a report in November following an eight-month investigation of Ohio’s juvenile prisons and detention centers. The 12-page special section appeared in newspapers across the state and online.

State bureau reporter Laura Bischoff and more than a dozen journalists from the Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal, Canton Repository and The Dispatch (including courts reporter Jordan Laird and videographer Courtney Hergesheimer) scoured public records, interviewed more than 100 children, parents and employees, and documented what happens to kids behind bars.

What they found is that Ohio’s juvenile detention system is not working.

The investigation uncovered that troubled youth who were sent to jail for what might be their last chance at turning their lives around before they become adults instead found a more dangerous situation inside. Particularly heartbreaking was the story of Damarion Allen, a 15-year-old paralyzed in a fight in Franklin County’s juvenile jail. An internal investigation revealed that a guard's error allowed the fight to happen and that guards used improper force on Allen after he was injured.

The day after the report was published, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine called for a special working group of experts to examine the problems identified in the report.

DeWine praised the reporting, saying, “You’ve highlighted some very horribly tragic stories that I think anybody can relate to. It’s now time for a reset, or a relook, at DYS (Department of Youth Services) and the whole system.”

But Democratic lawmakers went further, demanding an investigation of the department as well. The Ohio Correctional Institution Inspection Committee has called for hearings to question the department's director.

Gun violence doesn't discriminate

Gun violence has taken far too many lives in Columbus and central Ohio, leaving a wake of devastation and fear throughout neighborhoods in every direction.

It's a problem that The Dispatch chose to highlight in a nearly yearlong project titled "Under Fire" that explored the impact and unexpected consequences of gun violence; what lawmakers and other government officials, public health, social service agencies and citizens are (and in some cases are not) doing to reduce the deaths and the disregard for life; and the growing numbers of Glock switches — which turn handguns into machine guns — that are popping up throughout the Columbus area, causing death and chaos.

The Dispatch highlighted the recent rise in teens (sometimes as young as 13 or 14) charged with murder and other gun-related charges and explored what's being done in Franklin County to stem their involvement.

The newspaper additionally deployed 28 journalists (including reporters, photographers and editors) to capture gun violence and its lingering effects in real time over an 80-hour period from the early morning hours of Thursday, July 20, until the early morning hours of Sunday, July 23, and their riveting account might shock you.

Preying on Patients

A Dispatch investigation of 42 years of records uncovered how the State Medical Board failed to protect Ohioans from serial sexual abusers and harassers despite a clear, decades-long pattern of doctors preying on patients.

A review of tens of thousands of board disciplinary records showed a broad range of sexual misconduct allegations and the heartbreaking impact on victims, while also showing that the board bungled some accusations of sexual misconduct. Many cases went years without any action, while some fell into a state-described “black hole."

In one example, a Circleville doctor got away with abusing patients for decades at about the same time Dr. Richard Strauss was abusing students at Ohio State University. At least 17 women and girls eventually came forward to accuse the Circleville doctor of sexual abuse, and authorities say there may be dozens more.

Legislation created to better protect patients from sexually abusive medical professionals is moving forward, and state leaders say they have confidence it will become law.

“It remains a top priority for the governor,” Dan Tierney, spokesman for Gov. Mike DeWine said of Ohio Senate Bill 109.

Power clash between former OSU president and Les Wexner?

Former Ohio State President Kristina Johnson shocked many when she abruptly announced her decision to retire in November 2022. Staff members had complained about her abusive management style, but some close to the Ohio State president said that's not why she stepped down only halfway through her contract.

Instead, they said, there was too much pressure from the New Albany billionaire whose name sits on several campus buildings, including the Medical Center, and those on the board who are loyal to him.

"Les Wexner wanted things done his way, and there is a faction of the board that makes sure he gets what he wants," said one source close to Johnson. "Kristina decided it would be nearly impossible to finish the amazing work she had started with that kind of pressure. That's why she made the painful decision to resign, not because of some exaggerated complaints from her staff."

Struggling in cold, unsafe apartments

In November, reporter Peter Gill broke the story of more than 850 Haitians — including at least 248 children — who were tricked into coming to Columbus from Florida by human traffickers with the promise of jobs and dumped into substandard housing, which in many cases lacked heat or hot water.

The situation is not unlike what happened with the relocation of residents at the Latitude Five25 twin towers a year earlier.

When Columbus officials emptied the Latitude Five25 apartments on Christmas Day 2022, they needed to scramble to find shelter for 154 households after heat problems and burst pipes forced the evacuation of the twin towers on the Near East Side that are visible on the south side of Interstate 670 near Downtown. The buildings also had problems with non-working elevators and other code issues.

Residents of the 508-unit Colonial Village had until the end of last year to leave their apartments. The city has paid for temporary hotel housing for some. And several local groups, including the Community Shelter Board, Legal Aid and Community Refugee and Immigration Services, are providing legal and other assistance. But what will happen to the former residents in the long term remains to be seen.

Reporting fatal bus crash on I-70 in Licking County a statewide effort

When The Dispatch first started getting reports just after 9 a.m. on Nov. 14 of a crash on Interstate 70 in Licking County, we weren’t sure how bad it was. An Ohio Department of Transportation image showed a fiery scene blocking westbound traffic at State Route 310.

All we knew at the time was that the freeway was closed because of what authorities called a “mass casualty incident” involving a tractor-trailer and a commercial bus.

Within a half-hour of posting our initial story by several Dispatch and Newark Advocate reporters and photographers, we had staff headed to the scene, reaching out to local hospitals and scouring social media for potential leads.

Around 10:30 a.m., we began hearing reports the bus had been carrying band students from Tuscarawas County in northeast Ohio. We immediately began collaborating with various other USA TODAY NETWORK colleagues in New Philadelphia and Canton, as well as Akron, Cincinnati and elsewhere, to pursue multiple angles. These included reaction from the Tusky Valley community, the reunification of students with their families, live updates from ODOT and Gov. Mike DeWine, emerging details from the National Transportation Safety Board and accounts of the very first emergency responders at the scene.

Since then, we've posted more than two dozen stories, several photos and countless videos.

A few other notable stories:

• Jack Hanna's long goodbye: How Alzheimer's is stripping away the man the world once knew (A look at how Alzheimer’s disease has stripped away Hanna's memory and the life he led in the public eye for almost a half-century.)

• Yost: 'The bank hired the robbers to do security' on ex-zoo executives indicted on Monday (The announcement of a 90-count indictment of three former Columbus Zoo and Aquarium executives after previous reporting by The Dispatch shed light on wrongdoing.)

• 'Who I always was.' A 79-year-old transgender woman's journey to acceptance (Renee Mongeau, a 79-year-old Westerville resident, came out in 2022 as a transgender woman in her assisted living facility and shared her experiences with The Dispatch.

We hope, if you enjoy The Dispatch, that you will consider supporting this invaluable work by subscribing.

The Cincinnati Enquirer and Dispatch editor Nathaniel Shuda contributed to this story.

Encarnacion Pyle is managing editor of news at The Dispatch can be reached at epyle@dispatch.com.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: The Dispatch's impact felt throughout Greater Columbus and beyond