Announcement from National Editor Philip Rucker, Deputy National Editor Amy Fiscus and Griff Witte, Democracy Editor:
We are thrilled to announce that Greg Jaffe and Patrick Marley, reporters on The Post’s Democracy team, have won the 2024 Toner Prize for Excellence in National Political Reporting.
Greg and Patrick were honored with this prestigious award for a series of four stories last year from Ottawa County, Michigan. Over more than a dozen reporting trips, the pair documented the dissolution of trust in Ottawa after newly elected county commissioners, driven by ideology and suspicion, took power.
Stories described how Ottawa became a case study in what happens when county government is consumed by battles over race, religion and American history. They chronicled the demonization of a sex educator who had spent 20 years developing county efforts to lower teen pregnancy and curb the spread of sexually transmitted disease. They revealed how a program that provided free food to about 22,000 low-income residents became collateral damage in lingering battles over covid. And they posed the question of whether, after so many toxic battles, the people of Ottawa could learn to live together.
The Toner judges described Greg and Patrick’s work as “exquisite political journalism. And important. The series is a metaphor for how the political divide in the U.S. is manifesting itself all the way down to the county level.” Judges also cited the “exceptional writing that draws in readers hungry for deeper understanding.” And they praised the “brilliant and gripping reporting that goes beyond the cable news chatter.”
Established in 2009, the Toner Prizes recognize and reinforce quality, fact-based political reporting—work that illuminates the electoral process, reveals the politics of policy and engages the public in democracy. The awards, along with the Robin Toner Program in Political Reporting at the Newhouse School, are named after Robin Toner, the first woman to serve as national political correspondent of The New York Times. They are administered by Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications.
The Post has previously won five Toner awards, most recently in 2022 for “The Attack.”
Please join us in congratulating Greg and Patrick for this exceptional honor.
