Boulder Reporting Lab won 15 awards from the Colorado Press Association, including 10 first-place honors and the award for overall editorial excellence in its category, for reporting done in 2023, the nonprofit newsroom’s second full year of publishing.
The awards ranged from best breaking news, environmental, politics and investigative reporting to two honors in the prestigious best public service project category. The press association’s Better News Contest recognizes the best in Colorado journalism each year.
Reporter Tim Drugan received first-place honors for both best public service project and best investigative story for his accountability reporting on Boulder County’s former elected coroner. His reporting detailed and made public for the first time an internal investigation commissioned by the county based on a series of workplace allegations against Coroner Emma Hall. Following Drugan’s report, Hall resigned, and more individuals came forward with their experiences. These included community members who were forced to interact with Hall during the worst moments of their lives and shared stories of trauma, alleged unnecessary interventions and withholding of death certificates.
“Hidden Hazard: Boulder’s Million-Ton Coal Ash Problem” won second place for both best public service project and best investigative story. It was the first local reporting of its kind to analyze groundwater contamination from the legacy of Xcel Energy’s Valmont Power Station and its coal ash site. The coal ash sprawls across 15 acres, largely hidden from public view, on the edge of Boulder city limits. For the series, Boulder Reporting Lab received a Pulitzer Center grant to bring in coal ash experts to interpret publicly available data. The series has continued to spark new conversations and accountability in policy circles and among affected communities about the future of the coal ash site. 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.
Reporter John Herrick won four solo first-place honors: best politics reporting for his stories on how homelessness shaped Boulder’s 2023 municipal election; best feature story for his coverage of the seven-year saga of Ryan Partridge’s family seeking justice for their son; best health story for his reporting on Boulder’s fentanyl crisis; and best education story for his reporting on a complex discrimination lawsuit at BVSD.
Herrick and Drugan shared top honors for best editorial special section for BRL’s reader-powered election project during the 2023 municipal election. They also won best crime and public safety reporting, along with CU Independent reporter Isabella Hammond, for their story unraveling the misinformation surrounding an alleged downtown Boulder stabbing. Additionally, they won first place for best breaking news/deadline reporting for their coverage of a fake swatting call at Boulder High.
A project led by Drugan, with contributions from freelancers Claire Cleveland and Ali Branscombe, won second place for best series or sustained coverage for the series “Climate Disaster Dollars & Sense: Marshall Fire Fund Up Close.” Drugan also won second place for best environmental story for his reporting on how Boulder County cities and towns are pursuing solutions to Colorado River water shortages, largely on their own.
The BRL team won first place for best website.
Way to go BRL! 👏😃
Congratulations! So well-deserved!
Congratulations! and thank you for all you’ve done to improve the quality of life in Boulder.