Beat Reporting:
This award recognizes a reporter who has demonstrated mastery of their beat in the past year.
Winner: Siobhan McAndrew, Reno Gazette Journal
Judge’s comments: “Strong, chilling, emotional stories from behind Covid’s front lines.” (Read the stories: 1, 2, 3)
2nd place: Eli Segall, Las Vegas Review-Journal
3rd place: Rio Lacanlale, Las Vegas Review-Journal
Election Reporting:
This award recognizes coverage of the 2020 U.S. or state/local election
Winner: Nevada Current Staff, Nevada Current
Judge’s Comments: ”Smartly and correctly predicted many of the problems and arguments that would come later.” (Read the stories: 1, 2, 3)
2nd place: Gary Martin, Las Vegas Review-Journal
3rd place: The Nevada Independent Staff, The Nevada Independent
Environmental Justice Reporting:
This award recognizes a story or series of stories from a reporter(s) covering environmental issues and how they shape and affect communities.
Winner: Daniel Rothberg, The Nevada Independent
Judge’s Comments: ”Interesting and compelling, fascinating in depth examination into long running water issues.” (Read the story)
2nd place: Daniel Rothberg, The Nevada Independent
3rd place: John Sadler, Las Vegas Sun
Human Rights Reporting:
This award recognizes an individual reporter’s coverage of underserved and marginalized communities.
Winner: Briana Erickson, Las Vegas Review-Journal
Judge’s Comments: “The series of reports on COVID-19 and nursing homes was top notch. Informative, detailed and possessing a human element that’s hard to forget.” (Read the stories: 1, 2, 3)
2nd place: Art Kane, Las Vegas Review-Journal
3rd place: Lucia Starbuck, KUNR Public Radio
Innovator of the Year:
This award recognizes news organizations committed to telling groundbreaking and different stories not typically told.
Winner: The Nevada Independent
Judge’s Comments: ”Excellent in-depth reporting and the incredible wealth of information in the Coronavirus breakdown set the Nevada Independent apart.” (Read the stories: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
2nd place: Las Vegas Review-Journal
3rd place: KUNR Public Radio in partnership with Noticiero Móvil and This Is Reno
Narrative Nonfiction:
This award recognizes an article that goes beyond typical news reporting on an issue, event or a topic and uses the pillars of narrative storytelling to give a character-driven article that both informs and intrigues the reader.
Winner: Rachel Crosby, Las Vegas Review-Journal
Judge’s Comments: ”Vivid and horrifying. The story painted an amazingly clear picture of a terrifying scene.” (Read the story)
2nd place: Jason Bracelin, Las Vegas Review-Journal
3rd place: Jackie Valley & Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez, The Nevada Independent
Reporting Using Public Records:
This award recognizes a reporter(s) for reporting important stories that would only have happened with public records.
Winner: John Treanor & Maria Thompson, KSNV – News 3
Judge’s Comments: “Strong investigation that raises a bunch of important questions. Really well done.” (See the story)
2nd place: Bob Conrad, This is Reno
3rd place: Daniel Rothberg, The Nevada Independent
2020 Topical Storytelling, COVID-19:
This award recognizes a single reporter’s coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Winner: Siobhan McAndrew, Reno Gazette Journal
Judge’s Comments: “Wonderful written and incredibly sad. A great chronicle of a horrible time.” (Read the stories: 1, 2, 3)
2nd place: Jason Bracelin, Las Vegas Review-Journal
3rd place: Megan Messerly, The Nevada Independent
Web Presentation:
This award recognizes outstanding presentation of a single news story or series online.
Winner: Megan Messerly, The Nevada Independent
Judge’s Comments: ”An incredible amount of information, but laid out in a way that was easy to digest. There’s a lot to learn in the numbers.” (See the presentation)
2nd place: The Nevada Independent Staff, The Nevada Independent
3rd place: Ben Hager, Las Vegas Review-Journal
Student Journalism Award
This award recognizes a single student journalist’s outstanding work.
Winner: Savanna Strott, The Nevada Independent
Judge’s Comments: “Solid job overall.” (Read the stories: 1, 2, 3)
2nd place: Jayden Perez, KUNR Public Radio
3rd place: Alex Wright, UNLV Scarlet and Gray Free Press
SPJ Las Vegas Scholarship 2021-2022
The SPJ Las Vegas Journalism Scholarship honors one excellent Southern Nevada college journalist pursuing a career in the field.
Winner: Alex Wright, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Abbreviated remarks from the winner:
“I wanted to say thank you to all of the donors and everyone at the Society of Professional Journalists of Las Vegas who made this scholarship,” he wrote. “I have known for a long time that I wanted to be a journalist and this scholarship will help me out a lot as I finish out my last three semesters at UNLV and pursue a career in journalism.”
SPJ Las Vegas 