The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the Ozaukee Press were the top finishers in the inaugural Wisconsin A-Mark Prize for Investigative Journalism competition.
The award recognizes excellence in investigative reporting. Submissions were evaluated based on the core criteria of journalism quality, presentation quality, responsiveness to community needs and impact.
The contest was administered by the Wisconsin Newspaper Association Foundation and judged by a committee of retired Wisconsin newspaper and broadcast journalists, as well as representatives from the University of Wisconsin School of Journalism and Mass Communications.
Winners and the corresponding prizes include:
First place: $5,000 for the journalist(s) and $2,500 to the news organization — For the entry “Wisconsin Prison Crisis” by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel team of Kelli Arseneau, Drake Bentley, Ashley Luthern, Laura Schulte, and Vanessa Swales.
Judges’ comments: “A situation that has been begging for clear-sighted attention for decades. The public generally doesn’t want to hear about – or care much about – the lives of the incarcerated but this series brought inhumane conditions into daylight where they couldn’t be ignored,” the judges wrote. “The quality of journalism and quality of presentation in this series were of the highest quality. Interestingly, rather than bringing attention to a matter of widespread community needs, the series focused on a subset of our populations and made those concerns relevant and urgent for the wider population to address.”
Second place: $3,000 for the journalist(s) and $1,500 to the news organization — For the entry “The Gray Zone,” by journalist Cleo Krejci of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Judges’ comments: “The issue of care for the aged is not only of statewide importance in Wisconsin but it is across the nation. The quality of journalism and its presentation is of the highest quality – ‘compelling’ is an apt description.”
Judges also commended the decision to take the investigation for an inside look, which replaced arm’s-length reporting “with a powerful inside look at life inside an assisted living facility. The impact of the series can be seen in subsequent reactions from family members, caregivers themselves, the general public and commitment for improvement in state oversight from both sides of the political aisle.”
Third place: $2,000 for the journalist(s) and $1,000 to the news organization – For the entry, “Microchip Plant,” by journalists Bill Schanen IV and Kristyn Halbig-Ziehm of The Ozaukee Press.
Judges’ comments: “A weekly newspaper . . . confronts strong and varied pressures when a plan for community development and new jobs when a secretive business begins to emerge. On one hand, the newspaper is committed to open and honest local coverage and on the other there is strong sentiment in the interests of development and job creation to go along with the entity’s penchant for secrecy,” the judges observed.
“The only way to get to the bottom of the matter and protect the public’s right to know is through investigative reporting . . . The months-long investigation probing the identity of the entity behind the land acquisitions and potential project reflects quality journalism, commitment to community needs and powerful impact.”
Commendable entries, as evaluated by the judges, included:
• “State Judicial Ethics Panel Rarely Acts on Complaints,” by Bethany Gentler of The Oshkosh Herald;
• “Presque Isle Computer Caper,” by Richard Moore of The Lakeland Times; and
• “Wrong Way Drivers” by David Wahlberg of The Wisconsin State Journal.
About A-Mark
The A-Mark Prize for Investigative Journalism is open to all journalists and all news organizations in Wisconsin. The A-Mark Foundation is a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization incorporated in 1997.
A-Mark is dedicated to supporting and encouraging journalism and investigative reporting through grants to organizations that offer awards recognizing journalistic excellence. One of A-Mark’s flagship initiatives is the A-Mark Prizes program, which recognizes and rewards the best investigative journalism in each state.
