1st place: “The Cost of a Lifeline” by Lindsey Smith and Michelle Walker, The Mabel Bassett Balance

Our top story stood out for its ability to make numbers mean something by applying it to an individual story. As one judge wrote, “Rising phone call rates are tough on everyone, but the writers focused on one person whose story resonates. The lead sets it out beautifully: A woman incarcerated at a young age needed phone calls home to help her grow up… at $300 a month. The article explains the reasons behind the increase in rates, and adds an authoritative source about the importance of family contact for rehabilitation.” Directly quoting a family member saying, “We have four more years”, as our judge mentioned, is a perfect closing for this well-done piece.

2nd place: “Have You Had Your Mammogram?” by Michelle Theer, Inside The Walls
Theer’s article ranked second place as a work of service journalism that alerts readers to an important new health screening available to them—the mammogram— and does so in a clear, warm, engaging style. The lede acknowledges the obstacles to breast screening that access to mammograms can eliminate, and a “Hannibal Lecter” reference injects the right amount of levity. Even at this short length, the author consults many sources, including incarcerated women who have used the service.”

3rd place: “Second Chances” by Lawson Strickland, The Angolite
This article earned its ranking for its excellent demonstration of the reported news style. As one judge described—“In very clean, objective journalism prose, Strickland describes the history of Close Cell Restricted and how it came to be reassessed. He gets first-person quotes from both prisoners and administrators, treating the story holistically. Great transitions, organic use of quotes, and good punctuation and grammar.”