Boulder Reporting Lab wins 14 awards in Society of Professional Journalists contest

Boulder Reporting Lab won 14 awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, including nine first-place honors, in the Top of the Rockies contest for work published in 2023, BRL’s second full year of publication. The awards bring the total to about 50 honors BRL has earned since its launch at the end of 2021 in statewide, regional and national journalism contests.

Many of the awards recognized BRL’s pioneering, locally focused climate change journalism, which has sought to highlight problems and elevate solutions in one of the state’s most climate-vulnerable communities.

An investigative project by Boulder Reporting Lab, “Hidden Hazard: Boulder’s Million-Ton Coal Ash Problem,” won first place for both Public Service and Enterprising Reporting. It was the first Boulder reporting project to analyze groundwater testing data from Xcel Energy at the Valmont Power Station. For the series, BRL received a Pulitzer Center grant to bring in coal ash experts to interpret the publicly available data. The series sparked new conversations and accountability in public policy circles and among affected communities about the future of coal ash at Boulder’s edge. The project was done in collaboration with six CU Boulder graduate students — Tyler Hickman, Gabe Allen, Alyssa Crume, Devin Farmiloe, Por Jaijongkit and Audrey Wheeler — and the Center for Environmental Journalism.

Judges commended the reporters for “revealing how residents near a closed power plant have to contend with the facility’s dangerous legacy: coal ash contamination.” Boulder Reporting Lab “uncovered multiple examples of hazards posed by heavy metal residues, the threat to groundwater, and other concerns that residents will face unless action is taken,” they noted, praising the “clear and informative writing.”

BRL’s reader-powered election project, led by BRL senior reporter John Herrick, won first place for best Multimedia Story. Judges commended Boulder Reporting Lab for “allowing readers to help shape election coverage, which the lab did in a significant way.”

Herrick also won first place in Mental Health News for his story on Boulder County Jail’s struggles to implement a new Colorado law restricting solitary confinement. Judges noted, “Boulder Reporting Lab took a deep dive into solitary confinement in the Boulder prison and shed light on how it is not keeping up with new laws impacting inmates’ mental health.”

BRL environment reporter Tim Drugan won first place for Climate Reporting for his body of work examining the reshaped climate reality spurred by the devastation of the Marshall Fire. He also won first place for best News Reporting for his coverage of the alleged causes of the Marshall Fire. “Exceptionally thorough and broadly consequential reporting that publicly elevated an issue affecting a statewide population,” the judges stated. “This type of solid reporting increases the potential for effective action by those affected and local leaders.”

A project led by Drugan, with contributions from freelancers Claire Cleveland and Ali Branscombe, won first place for Extended Coverage for the series “Climate Disaster Dollars & Sense: Marshall Fire Fund Up Close.” Judges wrote, “After the Marshall Fire ravaged Colorado, residents were desperate for funds to help them rebuild. The Boulder Reporting Project performed a major service to the community by examining how funds are disbursed — who gets money, who doesn’t, and why.”

Drugan also won first place for best Solutions Journalism for his reporting on Boulder’s flood risk and the sometimes unpopular but necessary solutions. Judges described it as “comprehensive, compelling journalism about finding solutions to flooding.” Additionally, Drugan won first place in Best Ag and Environment News for his stories on the expansion of Boulder’s controversial prairie dog control program.

Herrick won second place in Beat Reporting for his 2023 coverage of the challenges posed by local housing laws on Boulder’s affordability goals and efforts to address them — a theme he continues to explore in his ongoing housing reporting. He won second place for Social Justice Reporting for his coverage of Boulder’s strained eviction program amid record eviction cases and for Legal News for his reporting on a discrimination lawsuit at BVSD. In Breaking News, he placed third for covering a major development in a highly consequential First Amendment lawsuit originating in Boulder politics. Boulder contributor Jenna Sampson won second place for Obit Writing for her coverage of the tragic killing of Magnus White, a champion Boulder youth cyclist, by a driver.