EWA Announces Finalists for Reporting Awards
Winners to be honored at annual conference
The Education Writers Association is pleased to announce the finalists for the 2017 National Awards for Education Reporting and the Eddie Prize, recognizing the top education stories in online, print, and broadcast media across the country.
This year’s finalists — more than 50 entries — come from a wide range of news outlets. Some were produced by dogged solo reporters, others by new nonprofit journalism organizations, and many by traditional news institutions. The entries feature stellar writing, compelling multimedia and visuals, and nuanced storytelling.
“EWA is thrilled to recognize these exceptional stories and their important contributions to the conversation on education,” said Caroline Hendrie, EWA’s executive director. “Their work exemplifies the very best of our field as well as our collective commitment to journalism as a public service.”
The winners for each category will be announced on the first day of EWA’s 71st National Seminar, to be held May 16-18, 2018 at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. On Thursday, May 17, EWA will announce the recipients of the three top awards: the Ronald Moskowitz Prize for Outstanding Beat Reporting ($2,500); the Edwin Gould Foundation’s Eddie Prize ($7,500); and the Fred M. Hechinger Grand Prize for Distinguished Education Reporting ($10,000).
There are at least two finalists in each of the 16 categories in EWA’s National Awards for Education Reporting, as well as for the Eddie Prize, which recognizes the best work on the challenges that low-income students face completing college.
The awards competition is being independently judged by more than 60 current and former editors and reporters, many of them past award-winners. No judge is reviewing an entry submitted by his or her current or recent employers. The top-prize winners will be selected by the combined scores of more than a dozen final-round judges.
EWA is grateful to the College Board for its generous support of the 2017 National Awards for Education Reporting, and to the Edwin Gould Foundation for its sponsorship of the Eddie Prize.
EWA would also like to thank and honor the judges who volunteered their time and expertise to score this year’s entries:
Eva-Marie Ayala, The Dallas Morning News
Stephanie Banchero, The Joyce Foundation
Kathryn Baron, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
Dan Berrett, The Chronicle of Higher Education
Sarah Butrymowicz, The Hechinger Report
Kirk Carapezza, WGBH News (Boston)
Bill Celis, University of Southern California
Michael Alison Chandler, The Washington Post
Julie Chang, Austin American-Statesman
Nick Chiles, Author
Rose Ciotta, EdSource
Leah Clapman, PBS NewsHour
Sarah Cohen, Arizona State University
Trisha Crain, AL.com | Alabama Media Group
Martha Dalton, WABE (Atlanta)
Julie Deardorff, Northwestern University
Nichole Dobo, The Hechinger Report
Maureen Downey, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Margaret Downing, The Houston Press
Ron Feemster, Florida SouthWestern State College
Emmanuel Felton, The Hechinger Report
Kelly Field, Freelance
Cara Fitzpatrick, Spencer Education Journalism Fellowship, Columbia University
Larry Gordon, EdSource
Erica Green, The New York Times
Brandis Griffith-Friedman, Chicago Tonight | WTTW
Joe Grimm, Michigan State University
Natalie Gross, Military Times
Cornelia Grumman, Robert R. McCormick Foundation
Reeve Hamilton, Texas A & M University System
Beth Hawkins, The 74
Susan Headden, Lumina Foundation
Javier Hernández, The New York Times
Tawnell Hobbs, The Wall Street Journal
Laura Isensee, Houston Public Media
David Jesse, Detroit Free Press
Barbara Kantrowitz, Columbia University
Jane Karr, The New York Times (retired)
Karin Klein, Los Angeles Times (retired)
Rebecca Klein, HuffPost
Linda Lenz, Freelance
Kit Lively, KERA News (North Texas)
John Merrow, Author
Rob Messinger, Ohio State University
Dale Mezzacappa, Philadelphia Public School Notebook
Dan Mihalopoulos, Chicago Sun-Times
Kaitlin Mulhere, Money magazine
Mc Nelly Torres, Freelance
Denise-Marie Ordway, Harvard University
Teresa Prout, News & Record (Greensboro, N.C.)
Christopher Quinn, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gail Robinson, Freelance
Brian Rosenthal, The New York Times
Lauren Roth, Orange County (Fla.) Public Schools
Gabrielle Russon, Orlando Sentinel
Amy Scott, American Public Media
Jeff Selingo, The Washington Post (contributor)
Linda Shaw, Solutions Journalism Network
Delece Smith-Barrow, The Hechinger Report
Aisha Sultan, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Ki Sung, KQED Public Media for Northern California
Melissa Taboada, Austin American-Statesman
Kenneth Terrell, AARP
Greg Toppo, Inside Higher Ed
Peg Tyre, Edwin Gould Foundation
Maura Walz, KPCC | Southern California Public Radio
Ben Wildavsky, The College Board
Denise Zapata, EdSource