Milwaukee Journal Sentinel journalists received nine awards for 2021 reporting from the Society for Features Journalism, including a first-place award for Mark Johnson’s story about new doctors fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
For that story, Johnson followed three first-year interns who graduated from the Medical College of Wisconsin and started their medical careers in the middle of the pandemic.
In awarding Johnson the first-place award for narrative storytelling, the judges wrote: “What a piece of service journalism … full of reflections from a population we don’t hear from enough, especially in this vulnerable way. An easy pick for first place because of the subject, a winner for the crisp, compelling writing.”
Johnson also received an honorable mention in the same category for another story about the pandemic’s impact, this one about a Wisconsin mom who gave birth while in a COVID-19 coma.
In the integrated storytelling category, Journal Sentinel staff won a second-place award for “Abuse of Trust,” a four-part series by reporters Ashley Luthern and Gina Barton that took readers through the story of how a rape case brought to light years of dysfunction within the Milwaukee Police Department, the Fire and Police Commission and City Hall.
Luthern and Barton worked with the Journal Sentinel’s Bill Schulz and Lou Salvidar and Erin Caughey for visual presentation of the story, and Rachel Piper, Greg Borowski and D. Kwas edited the series.
The judges wrote: “The staff did a great job taking a difficult, complicated issue and breaking it down clearly with excellent use of timelines, cast-of-character lists and a very creative presentation of the players’ connections to each other.”
James E. Causey received a second-place award for two of his commentary pieces, including his exploration of ESPN commentators’ contention that Milwaukee is a “terrible city” and his Pride Month column calling on the Black and LGBTQ communities to focus on common ground .
The judges said, “James E. Causey seems to have the talent and the guts to take on tough topics, including intraracial gender bias and racial equity in his own hometown. His spirited writing, strong reporting, excellent sourcing and smart arguments make him a must read.”
Causey also received an honorable mention for his essays about the COVID-19 pandemic, including his personal story of getting the COVID-19 vaccine even as his wife was skeptical about getting one herself.
Carol Deptolla received third place in the food criticism category for her review of Milwaukee Italian restaurant Tavolino, which was able to open during the pandemic.
Tom Daykin won third place in the diversity in digital features category for a story about a man who invests in Milwaukee real estate while being incarcerated.
Lori Nickel won third place for her sports feature about what it took to bring the Bucks to Milwaukee.
Also in the sports category, Jim Owczarski won an honorable mention for his look at what happened to the coin that featured in the all-important coin flip that led to the Bucks drafting Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Contact Amy Schwabe at (262) 875-9488 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @WisFamilyJS, Instagram at @wisfamilyjs or Facebook at WisconsinFamily.
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