Announcement from Executive Editor Sally Buzbee:
We are delighted to share the news that work from The Post’s Health and Science, Local and Well+Being desks, all produced in collaboration with teams across the newsroom, has been recognized in two national journalism contests.
Our project, “Dying Early: America’s Life Expectancy Crisis,” won the National Headliner First Place Award for News Series in Daily Newspapers. The judges declared that the series is “testament to the enduring importance of challenging conventional wisdom. … The Post’s analysis of decades of death data found that chronic diseases cost Americans twice as many years of life as overdoses, firearm deaths and all other external causes combined. The exceptional reporting in these pieces combined the personal accounts of those affected by chronic disease with a detailed explanation of the multilayered causes of early deaths. The result is a series that reveals a public health crisis that has long been hiding in plain sight.” Journalists from a constellation of teams – Audience, Audio, Copy Desk, Data, Design, Graphics, Health and Science, International, Photo and Video – committed themselves to chronicling the nation’s eroding life expectancy. That mission took us to 10 states, two other continents and into the homes of families shattered by the loss of lives ended too early.
The Post had further recognition in the National Headliner Awards. William Wan earned second place in the Feature Writing category. William was recognized for stories about individuals struggling for hope in the face of overwhelming problems: a Kentucky state senator who fought to make conservative colleagues care about the suicide of trans teens weeks after her own son’s suicide, the sole survivor of a White House lightning strike who faced searing physical pain and guilt, and a transgender student who joined a sorority and became the target of death threats and a lawsuit by her own sorority sisters to kick her out. “Thank you for telling my son’s story,” the Kentucky senator wrote after the first story ran. “For listening and being there as I went through the most difficult period of my life. If it lessens the hatred trans people are facing, even a little, I know he would have been so proud.”
Additionally, Well+Being columnist Richard Sima won third place in the Special or Feature Column category of the National Headliner Awards for his Brain Matters column, which explores human behavior and the neuroscience of everyday life. The winning entry included columns on the mental health benefits of bird songs, why we often get our best ideas in the shower and how to overcome procrastination.
In another contest, Association of Health Care Journalists competition, the wrenching, riveting coverage chronicling the short life of Baby Milo received the second place award in the Consumer/Feature category. The three-part entry – anchored by the reporting and writing of Frances Sellers, the photojournalism of Thomas Simonetti, audio reporting of Maggie Penman and video journalism of Drea Cornejo – told the story of a Florida family who learned the baby they were expecting would live only hours or a few days because of devastating abnormalities. When doctors refused to perform an abortion, citing highly restrictive state laws, Baby Milo’s parents were forced to plan for the infant’s death even as they prepared for his birth.
Please join us in saluting our colleagues for this meaningful recognition.
