ICFJ names winners of database biz reporting

Three journalists have won awards for in-depth stories that used databases to explore financial topics across the United States.

The award winners were among reporters who participated in a 12-week database program administered by International Center for Journalists and funded by The McGraw-Hill Companies on database reporting.

Steph Guinan, a writer and data visualization journalist living in Asheville, N.C., won first place for a story examining unemployment and poverty issues in North Carolina.

Gene Siudut, assistant editor of La Gaceta in Tampa, won second place for a story examining baby boomers going into retirement.

Third place went to Mary Annette Pember, whose entry focused on sexual violence in North )Dakota because of the Keystone XL Pipeline.

Honorable mention was awarded to Frederick Reese for a story on minimum wage and Walmart and Robbie Ward for a story examining improvements in a Tupelo, Miss., neighborhood.

The winners were honored at a dinner in New York on March 12. The stories were judged by editors and writers at Marketwatch.com.

DISCLOSURE: I was one of the instructors of the ICFJ course, and these were some of my students.