2023 Sigma Delta Chi Award Honorees
The Society of Professional Journalists is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2023 Sigma Delta Chi Awards for excellence in journalism.
Jump to:
• All Platforms
• Television and Audio
• Art, Graphics and Multimedia
• Print, Online and Wire
Watch the announcement video
See clips of the winning work, and hear what judges said about the best of best in 2023 journalism. [1:05:04]
Judges chose the winners from entries in categories covering print, radio, television and online. The awards recognize outstanding work published or broadcast in 2023.
Dating back to 1932, the awards originally honored six individuals for contributions to journalism. The current program began in 1939, when the Society granted the first Distinguished Service Awards. The honors later became the Sigma Delta Chi Awards.
Founded in 1909 as Sigma Delta Chi, SPJ promotes the free flow of information vital to a well-informed citizenry; works to inspire and educate the next generation of journalists; and protects First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press.
All Platforms
Business/Finance Reporting
Denied by AI: Consequences for vulnerable Americans
Casey Ross and Bob Herman, STAT
Consumer/Retail Reporting
Bad Medicine
Staff, Bloomberg
Fact Checking
Fact-checking claims about the House impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden
Robert Farley, FactCheck.org
Cultural Criticism
Melanie McFarland
Salon
Arts, Entertainment and Fashion Journalism
The Heritage War
Bill Whitaker, Heather Abbott, LaCrai Mitchell and Craig Crawford, CBS News 60 Minutes
Food/Restaurant Journalism
Bittersweet
Seth Doane, Sari Aviv, Ed Givnish and Rand Morrison, CBS News Sunday Morning
Obituaries
The First Lady I knew: Rosalynn Carter
Kane Farabaugh, Voice of America
Regional Political Reporting
Secrets of the Cincinnati railroad deal
Sharon Coolidge, Cincinnati Enquirer
Spanish Language Feature Reporting
Cuando los libros desaparecen
Ana Elena Azpúrua, Patricia Clarembaux and Javier Figueroa, Univision News Digital
Spanish Language Investigative Reporting
Camioneros: el negocio mortal de los tráilers con migrantes
Staff, Noticias Telemundo
Spanish Language News Reporting
Hallan muerta a una soldado latina en Fort Hood que dijo a su madre que la acosaban
Ronny Rojas, Damià Bonmatí, Bruno García and Eulimar Núñez, Noticias Telemundo
Tech Reporting
Silicon Savanna: The workers taking on Africa's digital sweatshops
Erica Hellerstein, Coda Story
Collaborative Journalism
Behind the Gun
John Diedrich, Andrew Hahn, Ben Schultz and Alex Rivera Grant, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Marquette University's O’Brien Fellowship in Public Service Journalism
Read story: Link 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
Travel Journalism
Load of Ship
Kate Taylor and Brittany Chang, Business Insider
Television and Audio
Television Feature Reporting, Large Market Station
Making a Difference
Mike Bush and Tom Stasizak, KSDK, St. Louis
Television Feature Reporting, Small Market Station
This is Iowa
Eric Hanson and Cortney Kintzer, KCCI 8 News, Des Moines
Television Breaking News Coverage, ALL MARKETS
Marathon Petroleum Fire
Staff, WVUE-TV, New Orleans
Radio Breaking News Reporting
Israel attacked
Staff, CBS News Radio
Radio Feature Reporting
Coretta Scott: The other ‘King’ of Boston
Phillip Martin, WGBH Public Radio, Boston
Radio Sports Reporting
An all-women’s climb of the Grand Teton celebrates the first female ascent of the peak 100 years ago
Hannah Habermann, Wyoming Public Media
Investigative Podcast
Letters from Sing Sing
Dan Slepian and Preeti Varathan, NBC News
Conversational Podcast
In the Room with Peter Bergen
Peter Bergen, Alison Craiglow and Laura Tillman, Fresh Produce Media
Listen to story: Audible | Apple | Spotify
Narrative Podcast or Radio Documentary
Long Shadow: Rise of the American Far Right
Garret M. Graff and staffs, Long Lead and
Campside Media
Listen to story: Apple | Spotify | YouTube
Public Service in Radio Journalism
Pickleball: Can a game change prison culture?
Uncuffed staff, KALW Public Media
Public Service in Television Journalism, Network or Syndicated
Railroaded
Joce Sterman, Scotty Smith and Jamie Grey, InvestigateTV
Topher Sanders, ProPublica
Television Sports Reporting
Musial Awards Stories
Mike Bush, Scott Suppelsa, Adam Dew and Tom Stasiak, KSDK, St. Louis
Television Investigative Reporting, Small Market Station
Outside the Office
Lee Zurik, Jon Turnipseed and Dannah Sauer, WVUE-TV, New Orleans
Television Feature Reporting, network or syndicated
The Queen of Tequila
Staff, ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis
Television Documentaries, Network or Syndicated
On the Brink
Diane Sawyer, Rachel Scott and staff, IMPACT x Nightline
National or Syndicated Radio Feature Reporting
Coverage of a proposed UK government plan to deport undocumented migrants to Rwanda
Lauren Frayer and Fatima Al-Kassab, NPR
Listen to story: Link 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
Radio Investigative Reporting
Part of the Pipeline
Grace Madigan, KNKX Public Radio, Tacoma
Television Investigative Reporting, Large Market Station
Too Unwell to Testify?
Dave Biscobing and staff, ABC15 Arizona
Television Investigative Reporting, network or syndicated
Trashed: The Secret Life of Plastic Recycling
Staff, ABC News Live
Television Breaking News Coverage, Network or Syndicated
Attack on Israel
Saturday Today Staff, NBC News
Television Documentaries, Large Market Station
Warehoused: The Life and Death of Tristin Murphy
Jim DeFede, Alexander Bombard, Leon Gonzalez, and Joaquin Garcia, CBS Miami
Public Service in Television Journalism, All Markets
Undetermined: The Year Excited Delirium Died
Chris Vanderveen, Chris Hansen, Jenna Bourne and Aaron Adelson, KUSA, Denver
Inequalities in Society, Television or Audio
Shiloh: Our inheritance is washing away
Staff, ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis
Science, Environmental and Climate Reporting in Television or Audio
Proven Schizophrenia Treatments Keep People in School, at Work and off the Street. Why Won't Insurance Companies Cover Them?
April Dembosky, KQED-FM, San Francisco
Crime Reporting, Television or Audio
Investigating injustice: Black women at risk
Dorothy Tucker, Elliott Ramos, Carol Thompson and Tim Viste, WBBM-TV, Chicago
Art, Graphics and Multimedia
Informational Graphics and/or Data Visualization
Noise could take years off your life. Here’s how.
Staff, The New York Times
Breaking News Photography
A widow’s grief
J. Conrad Williams Jr., Newsday
Feature Photography
Wreaths across America
Scott Serio, Eclipse Sportswire
Sports Photography
The Finish Line
Jake May, The Flint Journal and MLive.com
Photo Essay or Slideshow
No One Dies Alone
Laura Seitz, Deseret News
Digital Video
Slaughterhouse Children: Child labor exposed in America’s food industry
Staffs of the Investigative Unit and Digital Documentary Unit, NBC News
Illustration
In Harm’s Way
Susie Cagle, Geoff Hing, Katie Park and staff, The Marshall Project
Editorial Cartooning, Circulation up to 40,000
Nancy Ohanian
Freelancer
Editorial Cartooning, Circulation 40,000-PLUS
Rob Rogers
Freelancer
Immersion Journalism
A Cathedral of Sound
Madeleine Schwartz, Malika Khurana, Mika Gröndahl and Yuliya Parshina-Kottas, The New York Times
Print, Online and Wire
Inequalities in Society
Toxic Labor
Janelle Retka, Samantha McCabe, Jiahui Huang and Maria Inés Zamudio, Columbia Journalism Investigations and Center for Public Integrity co-published by Futuro Investigates
Read story: Link 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
Feature Reporting, Circulation up to 40,000
The Stranger in the Mirror
Spencer Kent, NJ Advance Media
Feature Reporting, Circulation 40,000-PLUS
For 40 years he blamed himself for a girl’s murder. Then came a shocking discovery.
Max Kim, Los Angeles Times
General Column Writing, Circulation 40,000-plus
M.L. Elrick
Detroit Free Press
General Column Writing, Circulation up to 40,000
Bridget Grumet
Austin American-Statesman
Read story: Link 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Sports Column Writing
Steve Politi
NJ Advance Media
Editorial Writing
Brandon McGinley
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Deadline Reporting
A Massacre in Monterey Park
Staff, Los Angeles Times
Read story: Link 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
Magazine Writing
Held Together
Lucy Sexton and Joe Sexton, Atavist Magazine
Magazine Investigative Reporting
Hidden dangers of water beads
Lauren Kirchner, Margot Gilman, Joel Keehn and Scott Meadows, Consumer Reports
Newspaper or Online Investigative Reporting, Circulation 40,000-Plus
China: The Superpower of Seafood
Staff, The Outlaw Ocean Project
Newspaper or Online Investigative Reporting, Circulation up to 40,000
Preying on Patients
Max Filby, Mike Wagner and Jennifer Smola Shaffer, Columbus Dispatch
Read story: Link 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
Science, Environmental and Climate Reporting
Repowering the West
Staff, Los Angeles Times
Crime Reporting
The Mirai Confessions: Three young hackers who built a web-killing monster finally tell their story
Andy Greenberg, Wired
Public Service Journalism
Alone and Exploited
Hannah Dreier, The New York Times
Read story: Link 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Foreign Correspondence
Russia’s Shadow Fleet
Staff, Bloomberg
Washington Correspondence
Christa Case Bryant
Christian Science Monitor
Sports Reporting
Mismanagement of the Year
Jason Wolf, Arizona Republic
Read story: Link 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
Newsletter Journalism
Power Play
Annie Gaus and Mike Ege, San Francisco Standard
Non-Deadline Reporting, Circulation 40,000-Plus
Lost Rites
Jon Schuppe, Mike Hixenbaugh and Rich Schapiro, NBC News
Non-Deadline Reporting, Circulation up to 40,000
The Final Fall
Michael McGough and Stephen Hobbs, Sacramento Bee
Specialized Journalism Site
STAT
statnews.com