In summary
The Punch Sulzberger Prize for Journalism Innovation is given for work that “exemplifies new ways of executing the craft of journalism that will engage audiences and expand the work’s impact and reach.”
CalMatters’ Digital Democracy has been awarded the Punch Sulzberger Prize for Journalism Innovation in the national Poynter Journalism Prizes.
The honor, for “California’s Fentanyl Fight,” is a powerful pairing of the rich Digital Democracy government-transparency database and produced in partnership with Julie Watts of CBS News. Julie’s story focused on advocates for fentanyl legislation who were upset to learn through Digital Democracy that their bills died when legislators declined to vote.
Her broadcast followed a CalMatters’ story, “Power is never having to say ‘no.’ How California Democrats kill bills without voting against them” co-authored by Watts and CalMatters reporter Ryan Sabalow. The story used data from Digital Democracy to look at more than 1 million votes cast by current legislators, and revealed that Democrats voted “no” less than 1% of the time. Instead of directly voting against a bill, Democrats often killed bills by declining to vote.
The first-place award recognized Watts, Sabalow and Foaad Khosmood, an architect of Digital Democracy at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
Judges cited the team’s work with the “groundbreaking Digital Democracy database” built by CalMatters, which uses artificial intelligence and emerging technologies to further empower watchdog journalism and fill the reporting void left in statehouses across the country. The database collects information on millions of votes and hundreds of hours of hearings, allowing reporters to reveal hidden practices of California’s Democratic supermajority legislature.
“You read these pieces and you feel smarter and better-equipped to execute your rights in a democracy,” one judge said.
Digital Democracy includes every word uttered in public hearings, every dollar given to a politician, every bill introduced, every vote taken and more. The database enables unprecedented insights, such as a review of more than 1 million votes cast by current legislators over the past five years.
The partner investigation with CBS-TV showed the real impacts of people using Digital Democracy to see how government decisions are being made. “I personally am insulted,” said the mother of a young person who died from a fentanyl overdose. “That is what they signed up for, to represent us.”Digital Democracy and Julie Watts also contributed to a half-hour TV special on the fentanyl controversy in December. CalMatters has previously paired with CBS’ Watts, including two videos that won Northern California Emmy awards. CalMatters Reporter Nigel Duara and Watts Emmy was for a segment on how California investigates shootings by law enforcement officers of unarmed civilians, and a collaboration with Watts that featured Julie Cart’s coverage of the devastating effects of endless wildfires on the mental health of California’s firefighters.
