Coverage of the Uvalde school shooting wins prestigious
$25,000 Journalism Prize
GAINESVILLE, Fla., April 23,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Texas Tribune,
ProPublica and FRONTLINE have been awarded the 2024 Collier
Prize for State Government Accountability for their reporting on
the tragic mishandling of the active-shooter situation at Robb
Elementary School in Uvalde,
Texas, on May 24, 2022.
"It is very gratifying to honor this
important and impactful investigative journalism at the state
level."
Public Health Watch and partner organizations won second place
for "Toxic Texas Air." The Democrat and Chronicle of Rochester, New York, was awarded third place
for coverage of the aftermath of the bomb cyclone blizzard in
Buffalo, New York, in December 2022.
The Collier Prize – designed to encourage coverage of state
government, focusing on investigative and political reporting – is
one of the largest journalism awards in the nation. Offered
by the University of Florida
College of Journalism and Communications (UFCJC) and funded
by Nathan S. Collier, the prize will
be presented at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner
on April 27, 2024. Earlier this year,
Collier committed $8 million to UFCJC
to sustain the prize, hire a full-time director and create a new
local journalism symposium.
The winning entry, "Unprepared," included a series of articles
and a FRONTLINE documentary that exposed the failures of law
enforcement during the shooting, which led to the deaths of 21
people, including 19 children.
"A standout investigation into the missteps of law enforcement
during one of the most horrific school shootings in recent U.S.
history," wrote one of the Collier Prize judges.
The second-place winner, "Toxic Texas Air," by Public Health
Watch and partner news organizations, revealed the state's failure
to protect citizens from polluting the air with deadly and
dangerous chemicals, particularly benzene.
The Democrat and Chronicle won third place for "Abandoned,"
which reported on the government's shortcomings before and during
the December 2022 blizzard and is
told through the narrative about a young woman named Anndel Taylor,
who was trapped and died in her car.
"It is very gratifying to honor this important and impactful
investigative journalism at the state level," said Nathan Collier.
"The stories from these news outlets, as well as from all
Collier Prize entrants, validate the need for continued scrutiny of
state government activity," said UFCJC Dean Hub Brown. "We are
grateful to Nathan Collier for
funding this magnificent journalism."
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SOURCE University of Florida College
of Journalism and Communications