Headliners Foundation Announces Award Winners for High-Impact Journalism
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Alison Unger (512) 445-4520
aunger@headlinersfoundation.org
AUSTIN (June 16, 2020) —The Headliners Foundation of Texas is pleased to announce the winners of its 2019 Showcase Awards for Enterprise and Innovation. Top honors - the Showcase Gold Award - go to the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News for their joint publication of the investigative report, “Abuse of Faith.” This multipart and multimedia series examined a major sex abuse scandal in the Southern Baptist church that produced immediate results. By exposing what the church's pastors and leaders had long ignored or buried, the series gave voice to scores of aggrieved victims who for decades had been silenced. A story assignment that began with Chronicle reporter Robert Downen evolved into a team effort that included veteran investigative reporters Lise Olsen of the Chronicle and John Tedesco of the San Antonio Express-News (who has since joined the Chronicle staff), more than a dozen other journalists, photojournalist Jon Shapley, a data editor, digital specialists, designers, a graphic artist and editors in San Antonio.
In addition, the Foundation also announces two Showcase Silver Award winners):
Investigative reporters Jody Barr, David Barer, Ben Friberg, Josh Hinkle, Ricardo Ruano and Robert Sims at KXAN-TV in Austin for “Bargaining the Badge,” an investigative report that uncovered a pattern of law enforcement officers using their badges as bargaining tools to avoid prosecution for criminal offenses. In this statewide investigation, the team found that officers who agreed to surrender their badges received little or no jail time for offenses, including sexual assault of children and women in custody, taking bribes and dealing narcotics to prisoners, lying about the circumstances of a police shooting and destroying evidence in criminal cases. As a result of this investigation, Texas lawmakers are reviewing the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement – which issues and maintains peace officer licenses – and considering changes in the law that would allow the Commission, local authorities and Texas citizens to more effectively hold officers accountable for wrongdoing.
WFAA-TV (Dallas) investigative reporter Tanya Eiserer and producer Jason Trahan for “Jailed to Death,” an investigative series detailing fatalities in county jails run by LaSalle Corrections, a private, for-profit company. Many of these deaths came at the hands of new guards with little or no training using excessive force or were a result of the lack of adequate medical care for sick prisoners. The investigation found that LaSalle was taking advantage of a loophole in Texas law that allowed newly hired prison guards to work with no real training for a full year under temporary licenses. Texas lawmakers have now closed that loophole for companies like LaSalle and all county jails must now provide more training for newly hired guards. Discussions of more reforms among lawmakers and state regulators are ongoing.
Certificates of Merit were awarded to the following journalists:
Jeremy Schwartz, Andrea Ball, Mara Corbett and Dan Keemahill at the Austin American-Statesman for “Hostage to Heat”, a six-month investigation exploring more than a decade of heat-related deaths among Texas’ most vulnerable residents due to disconnection of electricity services. State lawmakers have now reviewing the state’s electricity disconnection policies.
Alfredo Corchado, Obed Manuel, Dianne Solis and Jeffrey McWhorter at the Dallas Morning News for their in-depth Immigration Series, continuing the paper’s decades-long coverage of immigration issues in Texas, this 2019 series focuses on the deaths of migrants in U.S. detention centers on the border, and the massacre of U.S. and Mexican citizens at an El Paso Wal-Mart.
Morgan Theofil and Jessica Priest at the Victoria Advocate for “Victoria County Emergency?,” an investigation into improper handling of Hurricane Harvey recovery funds that ultimately led to County Commissioners requesting a forensic audit of county processes and how funds were spent.
The Showcase Awards for Enterprise and Innovation in Journalism program is the only statewide competition for Texas-based news media that judges entries across all platforms – digital, broadcast, magazine, and newspaper – on their significant impact on government, public policy or the conduct of a business, nonprofit or other organization. All professional media were eligible to submit entries to the contest, including magazines, web-only publishers, radio outlets and even small, specialized news providers. Interviews with several of this year’s winners will be posted in the coming months on the Foundation’s website.
John Lumpkin, Vice-Chair of the Foundation and Chair of the Professional Excellence Committee that oversees the awards process, praised the work being produced by Texas journalists. “Even before COVID, Texas newsrooms were facing serious economic challenges,” Lumpkin said. “That is what is so amazing about the enterprising journalism in 2019 that the Headliners judges reviewed for the Showcase Awards.
“Texas journalists are doing incredible work,” said Patti Ohlendorf, the Foundation’s Board Chair. “The importance of nurturing and rewarding great journalism cannot be overstated, and we are extremely proud of our 37-year history of supporting print, broadcast and digital journalists across the state.”
For seven years, the Showcase Awards for Enterprise and Innovation have recognized and rewarded the best journalism in Texas, annually paying $2,000 to be shared by journalists involved with the top prize, Gold, and $1,000 to be distributed to journalists in each organization winning a Silver. This year, a five-member judging committee of veteran editors and journalism educators judged 57 entries from media outlets throughout the state, some of which are posted on the Foundation’s website at https://www.headlinersfoundation.org/showcase-awards-2019.
Winners of the $4,000 in Showcase Award funds will be honored at the Foundation’s annual Mike Quinn awards luncheon on September 26th at the Headliners Club in Austin.
The Foundation is currently accepting submissions for the 2020 Showcase Awards for Enterprise and Innovation in Journalism. For more information about contest rules and criteria and how to submit an entry for consideration for the 2020 award program, please visit the Awards section of the Foundation’s website at www.headlinersfoundation.org.
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