The Boulder Reporting Lab received 15 awards from the Colorado Press Association, including ten first-place awards and the award for overall editorial excellence in its category, for its reporting in 2023, the nonprofit newsroom’s second full year of publication.
Awards ranged from best breaking news, environmental, political and investigative reporting to two honors in the prestigious Best Public Service Project category. The Press Association’s Better News Contest recognizes the best journalists in Colorado each year.
Reporter Tim Drugan won first place for best community service project and best investigative story for his reporting on Boulder County’s former elected medical examiner. His reporting detailed and made public for the first time an internal county investigation based on a series of workplace allegations against medical examiner Emma Hall. After Drugan’s report, Hall resigned and more people came forward with their experiences, including ordinary community members who were forced to speak with Hall at the worst moments of their lives and who told of trauma, unnecessary procedures and withholding death certificates.
“Hidden Danger: Boulder’s Million-Ton Coal Ash Problem” won second place for both Best Community 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 Plant and its coal ash dump. The coal ash dump stretches across 15 acres, mostly hidden from public view, on the edge of Boulder’s city limits. For the series, the Boulder Reporting Lab received a Pulitzer Center grant to bring in coal ash experts to evaluate 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 dump. The project was conducted 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 awards: best political reporting for his stories on how homelessness affected the 2023 municipal elections in Boulder; 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 coverage of the fentanyl crisis in Boulder; and best education story for his coverage of a complex discrimination case at the BVSD.
Herrick and Drugan shared first place for Best Editorial Special Section of BRL’s reader-supported Election Project during the 2023 municipal elections. They also won Best Crime and Public Safety Coverage, along with CU Independent reporter Isabella Hammond, for their story exposing the misinformation surrounding an alleged stabbing in downtown Boulder. In addition, they won first place for Best Breaking News/Deadline Coverage 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 sustainable reporting 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 cities and towns in Boulder County are largely looking for solutions to water shortages on the Colorado River on their own.
The BRL team won first place for best website.
