Journal Sentinel reporters win awards from National Association of Black Journalists

Two Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporters won awards in the National Association of Black Journalists' 2023 Salute to Excellence Awards.

For "Life Correction: The Marlin Dixon Story," James Causey won the award for best feature series for a newspaper with a staff of 51 to 100. The series follows Dixon, who was arrested at 14 for taking part in the high-profile beating of Charlie Young Jr., in the months after he was released from prison at age 32.

For "Fighting for Air," Talis Shelbourne won the award for best news series for a newspaper with a staff of 51 to 100. The series details the outsized impact of uncontrolled asthma on children in Milwaukee's predominantly Black neighborhoods and explores solutions to the problem.

"The work on these projects from James and Talis was truly extraordinary. In both cases, they dug deep to tell stories that were too long ignored, then worked with journalists across our newsroom to present them with clarity, compassion and insight," said Journal Sentinel Executive Editor Greg Borowski. "This is the kind of work our readers have come to expect, and that we strive to deliver every day."

In addition, "The Landlord & the Tenant" by Journal Sentinel reporter Raquel Rutledge and ProPublica journalist Ken Armstrong was a finalist for the Deborah Howell Award for Writing Excellence, an award from the News Leaders Association.

Judges called it "an absolute triumph in unconventional storytelling."

Journal Sentinel reporters win awards for features journalism

Four Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporters won awards in the Society for Features Journalism's 2023 Excellence-in-Features awards, including a first-place honor.

There were more than 900 entries in the annual contest.

In the category of narrative storytelling, Journal Sentinel reporter Raquel Rutledge earned a first-place award for her story with ProPublica journalist Ken Armstrong, "The Landlord & the Tenant." Rutledge is now an editor at an investigative nonprofit news organization that will launch this summer.

"The best feature writing is built on authoritative reporting. This story, wherever your outrage is directed by its facts, is a model of comprehensive, unassailable reporting. A tour de force," judges said.

Sports reporter Dave Kallmann earned a second-place award in the sports feature category for his story "They grew up Amish in Wisconsin. Now these cousins are living a NASCAR dream."

“A smart story idea which was told in a non-judgmental and thoughtful way. The writer avoided stereotypes and cliches, telling a personal tale in a way that anyone could understand," judges said.

Sports reporter Jim Owczarski took home the third-place award in the same category for his story "How Giannis Antetokounmpo’s view on ego, humility has inspired people around the world."

“A very interesting way to use a sports comment to produce a story with an audience well beyond sports," judges said.

And in the first-person/narrative essays category, features reporter Amy Schwabe earned second place for her story "Homeschooling our eighth grader."

“Parenthood is a wild ride, and this reflection is moving and special," judges said.

Journal Sentinel reporters, photojournalists win 8 National Headliner awards

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel journalists won eight awards in the annual National Headliner Awards program, including three first-place honors.

The Journal Sentinel's photo staff took first place for its portfolio of images from the past year.

"Every picture in the entry was good-to-great, which elevated it above its competition," the judges said.

Photojournalist Mike De Sisti also received an individual first-place award for pictorial excellence for "Ice Bridge," an image he captured using a drone of the Hoan Bridge in winter and the frozen water beneath it.

"Pictorial excellence displays great composition, textures, contrasts and moments. This aerial photo showing a bridge spanning an icy river has all the stuff of a great pictorial image," the judges said.

Reporter Guy Boulton won first place in the health, science and pandemic writing category for "A New Prescription," a series of stories about how poor health outcomes are exacerbated by poverty, inadequate housing and food insecurity.

Judges said Boulton's work "wove data, experts and real people into an authoritative, contextual and solutions-oriented package."

Boulton's reporting was supported by the O'Brien Fellowship for Public Service Journalism through the Diederich College of Communication at Marquette University and assistance from National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation. Boulton retired in December.

Read the stories: A New Prescription - A Journal Sentinel Special Report

Kristin Brey, Bill Schulz and David Haynes won a second place award for journalistic innovation for the “My Take by Kristin Brey” video series, in which the comedian and video columnist explains Wisconsin politics with her own style, perspective and sense of humor.

Third-place awards were won by:

Reporters Cary Spivak and Mary Spicuzza, in the investigative reporting category, for "Cash Not Care," an investigation of Wisconsin's prenatal care coordination provider program and the state's failure to stop fraudulent operations.

Reporters Molly Beck and Patrick Marley, in the local news beat coverage or continuing story category, for “Exposing an Inept and Shallow Investigation into the 2020 Election.” Their work included coverage of Michael Gableman and his botched taxpayer-funded review of the 2020 election results.

Reporter Talis Shelbourne, in the health and pandemic reporting category, for “Fighting for Air,” a series of stories exploring the disproportionate impact of untreated asthma on children and families in the city’s most impoverished and under-resourced neighborhoods.

Photographer Jovanny Hernandez, in the portrait category, for “Smokey in Red,” an image from singer Smokey Robinson’s 2022 performance at the Miller High Life Theatre in Milwaukee.

The National Headliner Awards program was founded in 1934 by the Press Club of Atlantic City. It is one of the oldest and largest annual journalism contests.

Journal Sentinel, ProPublica effort wins Dart Award for trauma coverage

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and ProPublica have received the Dart Award for excellence in coverage of trauma for “The Landlord and the Tenant.”

The story, reported by Raquel Rutledge of the Journal Sentinel and Ken Armstrong of ProPublica, contrasts the lives of landlord Todd Brunner and his tenant, a mother of four named Angelica Belen, leading up to a fatal house fire in West Milwaukee in 2013.

Judges described the story as “Dickensian in its depth, range and storytelling power” and “a gripping account of how two people are treated so vastly differently by the law.”

The award recognized the entire Journal Sentinel team that worked on the project.

"The reporters on this story did important, vital, insightful work," said Greg Borowski, executive editor of the Journal Sentinel. "In our newsroom, and at ProPublica and elsewhere, projects are a team sport. I'm tremendously thankful for all who brought this one together -- photojournalists, editors, online designers, producers and many more.

"From start to finish, they were focused on doing powerful work, but also doing it in the right way. The result is as thoughtful as it is thorough."

The annual awards are administered by the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, a project of the Columbia Journalism School, and recognize in-depth coverage of trauma.

The other winner of the Dart Award this year was the Boston Globe for “Kate Price Remembers Something Terrible,” a story on an expert on child sex trafficking who spent decades trying to understand whether she was abused as a child.

Raquel Rutledge is now an editor at an investigative nonprofit news organization that will launch this summer.

Journal Sentinel, ProPublica reporters win National Magazine Award for feature writing

Journal Sentinel reporter Raquel Rutledge and Ken Armstrong of ProPublica received first prize in feature writing in the National Society of Magazine Editors' annual awards.

The contest is one of the most prestigious in journalism, especially as it relates to long-form feature writing. It is the first time the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has received the award.

Their story, “The Landlord and the Tenant,” delved into the intersection of two lives, those of landlord Todd Brunner and his tenant, a mother of four named Angelica Belen, leading up to a fatal house fire in West Milwaukee in 2013.

"We're grateful to see the work recognized with this award," said Greg Borowski, editor of the Journal Sentinel.

"The story was an amazing feat of reporting, and also a beautiful, intricately-constructed piece of writing. No other newsroom in this state is doing that kind of ambitious work.

"Raquel and Ken Armstrong of ProPublica were true partners on this story, and their commitment to telling this story well shines through with every word."

Other finalists in the feature writing category included work from The Believer, Esquire, High Country News, New York, The New York Times Magazine and The New Yorker.

Journal Sentinel reporters take top honors in national business reporting contest

Journal Sentinel reporters Mary Spicuzza, Cary Spivak and Raquel Rutledge are first place winners in the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing's annual "Best in Business" contest.

Spicuzza and Spivak took first place in the government category for medium sized news organizations for "Cash Not Care," an investigation of Wisconsin's prenatal care coordination provider and the state's failure to stop fraudulent operations.

The investigation uncovered fraud and financial mismanagement in an industry that was collecting millions in government funding with little government oversight. Indications of fraud included fictitious billings, forgeries and coordinators claiming to be in two places at once.

In the wake of its publication, Milwaukee city officials adopted a plan for more oversight of Medicaid-funded prenatal programs and for a greater role for the city in shaping it.

Rutledge and Ken Armstrong of ProPublica took first place in the explanatory category for “The Landlord and the Tenant,” a deeply reported look at a landlord who gamed the legal and regulatory system and a tenant who paid the price when her children died in an apartment fire.

Their story, told in a series of interweaving vignettes, traced the lives of landlord Todd Brunner and his tenant, a mother of four named Angelica Belen, from their formative years to the deadly fire in West Milwaukee in 2013.

The SABEW awards were announced Friday.

Rutledge and Armstrong's story also is a finalist in feature writing category of the American Society of Magazine Editors' annual awards.

Reporters recognized nationally for coverage of health issues

Two Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporters have been nationally recognized for their work on stories addressing public health issues.

Reporters Guy Boulton and Mark Johnson received first- and second-place honors, respectively, for excellence in health care journalism from the Association of Health Care Journalists. The annual awards recognize the year's best health reporting in print, broadcast, and online media.

Boulton won first place in the health policy category for "A New Prescription," a series of stories about the intersection of health outcomes with hallmarks of poverty such as poor housing and food insecurity.

In addition to deep explorations of how housing and food insecurity affect the health of low-income people and drive up the cost of health services, the four-part series also showed how Milwaukee's Housing First program tapped a national model to lift people out of homelessness and improve health. The final installment dove into the reasons behind the nation's reluctance to spend money on social services despite mounting evidence addressing poverty and environmental influences can improve health outcomes and lower costs for everyone.

Read the stories: A New Presciption - A Jounal Sentinel Special Report

Boulton's work was supported by the O'Brien Fellowship for Public Service Journalism through the Diederich College of Communication at Marquette University and assistance from National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation. Boulton retired in December.

Mark Johnson won second place in the consumer/feature category for "A State of Mind," two stories that explored the health and social benefits of empathy, and scientific and social nature of resiliency.

The stories looked into the social and genetic roots of empathy and resiliency, the science behind them, and the health benefits of each. Johnson is now with the Washington Post.

Read the stories: Failure to understand and share feelings with each other runs counter to our nature. So why are we in a severe empathy crisis?

Read the stories: In a pandemic-weary nation, resilience has become critical. But where does it come from, and how do we develop it?

Journal Sentinel, ProPublica partnership a finalist for magazine editors award

Journal Sentinel reporter Raquel Rutledge and Ken Armstrong of ProPublica are finalists in the American Society of Magazine Editors' annual awards in the feature writing category.

Their story, “The Landlord and the Tenant,” delved into intersection of two lives, those of landlord Todd Brunner and his tenant, a mother of four named Angelica Belen, leading up to a fatal house fire in West Milwaukee in 2013.

ASME will announce the winners on March 28 in New York.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Journal Sentinel reporters Causey, Shelbourne win NABJ awards