Media Moves

WaPo, ProPublica and Chicago Tribune among others honored with SPJ Ethics in Journalism Awards

The following excerpt was sent out from spj.org:

The Society of Professional Journalists is bestowing its Ethics in Journalism Award to Tony Plohetskiof the Austin American-Statesman; Jodi S. Cohen and Jennifer Smith Richards of ProPublica and the Chicago Tribune; and William Wan of The Washington Post.

This award honors journalists or news organizations that perform in an outstanding ethical manner demonstrating the ideals of the SPJ Code of Ethics. Winners are selected by members of the SPJ Professional Standards and Ethics Committee and SPJ Board of Directors.

Tony Plohetski is being recognized for his reporting for of the Austin American-Statesman during the Uvalde school shooting. Plohetski was the first journalist to obtain an image from inside the school in June 2022.

Jodi S. Cohen of ProPublica and Jennifer Smith Richards of the Chicago Tribune are being recognized for the project “The Price Kids Pay,” examining how some Illinois schools found loopholes to enforce school discipline. Cohen and Richards traveled thousands of miles to hearings and submitted public records requests but encountered ethical challenges. They faced a pressing ethical question of how much detail about young people should be included to expose the injustice. The nomination letter written by ProPublica senior editor George Papajohn and Chicago Tribune investigations editor Kaarin Tisue noted how the reporters took care to minimize harm.

Washington Post reporter William Wan is being recognized for a series of stories that explored systemic problems for mentally ill youth but also captured the struggle of individuals trapped in those systems. The ethical challenges he faced revolved around intimately reporting on suicide and mental health without further traumatizing the victims, causing a contagion effect or making sure the interviewees weren’t passively written about.

The winners will be honored during the President’s Awards Banquet at the SPJ23 Journalism Convention in Las Vegas, Sept. 30.

Mariam Ahmed

Recent Posts

Is this the end of CoinDesk as we know it?

Former CoinDesk editorial staffer Michael McSweeney writes about the recent happenings at the cryptocurrency news site, where…

7 hours ago

LinkedIn finance editor Singh departs

Manas Pratap Singh, finance editor for LinkedIn News Europe, has left for a new opportunity…

1 day ago

Washington Post announces start of third newsroom

Washington Post executive editor Matt Murray sent out the following on Friday: Dear All, Over the last…

2 days ago

FT hires Moens to cover competition and tech in Brussels

The Financial Times has hired Barbara Moens to cover competition and tech in Brussels. She will start…

2 days ago

Deputy tech editor Haselton departs CNBC for The Verge

CNBC.com deputy technology editor Todd Haselton is leaving the news organization for a job at The Verge.…

2 days ago

“Power Lunch” co-anchor Tyler Mathisen is leaving CNBC

Note from CNBC Business News senior vice president Dan Colarusso: After more than 27 years…

2 days ago