Progress-Index reporter Joyce Chu named Outstanding Journalist of the Year, team wins 5 1st place awards

Joyce Chu was named the state's Outstanding Journalist of the Year and the Progress-Index reporters took home seven awards last weekend in the Virginia Press Association's annual awards banquet.

Chu's investigative reporting on a poorly run assisted living home also won Best in Show for daily news.

Summing up why Chu was chosen for the Outstanding Journalist award this year, the judge wrote: “Joyce’s stellar social justice reporting offered a clinic on giving voice to the voiceless. She displayed a delicate touch in her reporting and writing that treated with respect the people who have long been forgotten … Joyce revealed their anguish, challenged her readers to care, and gave her community a chance to do something about it.”

“In just over a year as the social justice reporter for the Progress-Index, Joyce Chu has earned a reputation as a powerful watchdog for the community,” said Jeff Schwaner, Gannett’s Virginia editor, who nominated her. “Joyce takes the time to listen to those in the city whose voices are least heard. From those sources she crafts carefully researched stories that make a difference.”

Chu's a relative newcomer to investigative journalism but has felt right at home with its challenges. "What matters is your passion, your heart, your willingness to do the work" of journalism, Chu said.

“Joyce’s work reaches the institutions that govern us, and the agencies that police those institutions; it reaches people and empowers them to make a difference in their community,” Schwaner wrote.

Chu won First Place awards in three news categories: In-depth and investigative reporting, Feature Profile Writing, and Science, Health and Environmental Reporting (see below).

FIRST PLACE AWARDS

Kristi Higgins: First Place in Column Writing

Kristi's well-known and popular Social Butterfly column won the top award for column writing. Higgins, who wore a striking butterfly-laden fascinator headpiece for the awards banquet, said, "Originally, I wasn't going to enter because I was slam-busy creating content. However, both (editors) Jeff Schwaner and William Ramsey insisted," Higgins said.

"I had butterflies waiting to see if I placed in the Column Writing category," Higgins said. "I was thrilled when I won first place! I love to share my crazy-fun experiences with our readers."

The judge commended the "fun, folksy" style of the "person-about-town writer." And Higgins was, it seems, everywhere last year. At many events, businesses, restaurants, wherever interesting people showed up. If there was fun to be had, Higgins was probably there.

Higgins's favorite column-related adventures have been tandem skydiving, scuba diving, cooking with chefs and electrofishing.

Bill Atkinson: First Place in Public Safety Reporting

Atkinson, who's been reporting on Petersburg for decades, received his latest recognition with stories that focused on accountability. He's no stranger to traditional beat coverage, either: Bill is known as a story machine in the Petersburg newsroom.

He's also got a nose for the scoop.

Sniffing out something rotten in a one-line email about the departure of a police chief, Atkinson was able to source the real story, one of off-duty inappropriate behavior. He led coverage of the emerging news over several stories.

Judge's comment: "This series of stories documented the fall of the local police chief, who also coached youth athletics, on allegations of sexual misconduct. The reporter laid out the facts for the reader, but also did a public service by holding the law officer accountable."

Joyce Chu: First Place in In-depth and Investigative Reporting

Joyce Chu was chasing down a different story when she noticed a man sitting in a wheelchair on the sidewalk outside of a run-down looking brick building. She parked and started talking to him. Over the course of several such visits, she met more people who made that piece of curb their safe spot, and she found out most were residents of an assisted living facility they called Fillmore. The name rang a bell, a rather ominous one from earlier conversations with social workers. "Do you like it there?" she asked the man she'd met first.

"No, it's hell," was the answer.

That started Chu investigating the history — and the present condition — of the facility.

Judge's comment: Excellent, brave reporting to expose terrible conditions at an assisted living facility. Obviously the reporter did great work developing sources and building trust. She also used strong writing and specific details to show the squalid conditions. The reporting caused an investigation and charges against the owner.

Joyce Chu: First Place in Feature Profile

An in-depth profile of a barber who took the long way to making his career dream come true, including rough forays in Petersburg's mean streets, where violence and money mingled inextricably.

Judge's comment: "Excellent storytelling that held my interest from start to finish."

Joyce Chu: First Place in Health and Environmental Reporting

Chu piloted a boots-on-the-ground story about urban heat islands, taking temperatures in the hottest of Petersburg’s neighborhoods, and exploring for a USA Today story the history of how minority neighborhoods redlined almost a century ago by city planners became some of the hottest residential places in the country.

Judge's comment: "Reporting that brings home the impact of environmental issues. Good use of a person dramatically impacted in the heat island story."

This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Progress-Index's Joyce Chu wins Journalist of Year, Best in Show and reporters win five 1st place awards at VPA banquet