Announcement from Executive Local Editor Jamie Stockwell and Deputy Local Editors Maria Glod and Matt Zapotosky:
We are delighted to share that the Washington Post’s Metro staff, along with several partners across the room, were honored with five SPJ D.C. Dateline Awards at a ceremony Tuesday night. The winners – who were among an astonishing 15 total finalists from our news organization – reflect the breadth and depth of our daily local coverage, including urgent and authoritative breaking news and beat reporting and deep investigations and features.
Peter Hermann, Emily Davies and Paul Schwartzman won in the Beat Reporting category for a package of stories on D.C.’s historically violent 2023. The submitted pieces included an accountability-focused look at the city’s struggles to keep kids alive, a rigorous examination of why homicides rose in D.C. as they fell elsewhere, an exploration of the impact of the violence on Washington’s psyche, an insightful feature on the new police chief, and a timely analysis of the moment the city surpassed 200 killings.
Nicole Dungca, Clarie Healy and Andrew Ba Tran won in the Series category for the revelatory Smithsonian brains project, which traced how the institution harvested brains and other body parts to prove now-debunked theories on racial differences and then held on to the remains, not acting on employees’ concerns over the practice.
Hannah Natanson and Justin Jouvenal won in the Investigative category for their deep investigation into how school administrators downplayed warnings about a 6-year-old’s troubling behavior before he shot and wounded a teacher in her classroom in Newport News, Va.
The Washington Post Staff, with contributions from Spencer Hsu, Rachel Weiner, Tom Jackman, Adriana Usero, Frank Hulley-Jones and others, won in the Breaking News category for their urgent, live coverage of the Proud Boys trial and sentencing, along with a compelling visual timeline.
Alexandra Robbins and Nicole Asbury won in the Non-Breaking News category for their revelations of sexual harassment allegations against a Montgomery County principal.
In Non-Breaking News, we had two other finalists:
· Emily Davies and Luz Lazo for their coverage of the city’s struggles to control repeat traffic offenders in D.C. after a harrowing crash that killed a Lyft driver a two passengers.
· Emily Davies and Olivia Diaz for their coverage of troubles at D.C.’s 911 center, including in an incident in which 10 dogs died in a flood.
In Features, we had three other finalists:
· Lauren Lumpkin for her piece on a D.C. principal grappling with the shooting deaths of four students at her school.
· Jasmine Hilton for her Deep Read on a group of mothers who bonded after their children were lost to gun violence.
· Katie Mettler and Maura Judkis for their examination of Jerry Lee Holly, whose escaped zebras in Prince George’s County captured national attention.
In Investigative, we had three other finalists:
· Valerie Strauss, Ovetta Wiggins and Nicole Asbury for their revelations on Maryland’s schools chief’s ‘toxic’ management style, as well as their reporting on his contract extension withdrawal and continued pay after stepping down.
· Dan Morse for his reporting on possible conflicts of interest of a judge who negotiated a role with the prosecutor’s office even as he heard criminal cases.
· Susan Svrluga for her reporting on an education department finding that Liberty University broke safety laws for years.
In Series, we had one other finalists:
· The Washington Post Staff, with contributions from Hannah Natanson, Moriah Balingit, Sabby Robinson, Karina Elwood, Olivia Diaz, Laura Vozzella, Marty Weil and Greg Schneider, for their reporting on a shooting after a high school graduation in Richmond.
In Beat Reporting, we had one other finalist:
· Karina Elwood for her coverage of the debate over Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s trans policies in Va. schools, including a look at teens resisting the directives, the state sports authority’s posture, a state law on the issue, students’ fears and updated guidelines.
