In summary
The contest recognizes innovative digital storytelling amongst major media outlets, international and independent news websites, and individuals telling stories online.
CalMatters earned more honors in the Online Journalism Awards, which were announced at a New York awards ceremony Thursday.
CalMatters won first place for immigration reporting for “Agents of Chaos: Tracking Border Patrol Operations Across the US,” a joint project with Evident Media and Bellingcat. CalMatters was also a finalist for a single newsletter for “My Legislator.”
In an earlier announcement CalMatters also won first place for “Agents of Chaos: Tracking Border Patrol Operations Across the US” for digital video storytelling in a series, along with co-creators Evident Media and Bellingcat, and awarded first place for “License to Kill” in explanatory reporting.
Congratulations to our partners Bellingcat for winning the Online Journalism Awards general excellence award in the small category.
First Place, Immigration Reporting – Small/Medium Newsroom
The powerful documentary, “Agents of Chaos: Tracking Border Patrol Operations Across the US” was CalMatters’ first venture in film. CalMatters’ Sergio Olmos and Wendy Fry collaborated with Evident Media and Bellingcat to produce three films for YouTube and vertical video.
Our investigation exposed the aggressive tactics and misinformation behind what would become the blueprint for the mass deportation campaigns carried out by immigration forces nationwide. It focused on the claims of Border Patrol sector chief Gregory Bovino, who then led raids in Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis and beyond.
Judges said “the winning project is truly an online first investigation providing visual verification, field reporting and data to establish a disturbing pattern of border patrol conduct across multiple cities.”
The video series:
- Exposed the government’s justification for the raids as patently false, laying bare the racial profiling at the heart of the operations.
- Introduced the nation to Border Patrol leader Gregory Bovino, who would become the high-profile architect of the national raids.
- Revealed the legally questionable tactics being used by immigration agents in the beginning days of the Los Angeles raids.
- Identified Border Patrol agents who were repeatedly involved in violent altercations with immigrants and protesters across multiple cities.
Congratulations to the large newsroom winner, Alianza Rebelde Investiga, Cazadores de Fake News, ProPublica and The Texas Tribune for “Deported and Imprisoned,” to the small newsroom winner, Block Club Chicago for “Chicago Under Siege: Block Club’s Coverage of Operation Midway Blitz,” and to the other finalists in the medium category: Chalkbeat for “Dreams Detained,” WIRED for “How the US Government Remade Itself to Crack Down on Immigration,” and The 19th for “Pregnant, postpartum — and in ICE custody,” and KXAN for “Undocumented.”
Finalist, Single Newsletter – Small/Medium Newsroom
To make state government accessible to everyday Californians, and to help them hold their lawmakers accountable, CalMatters launched My Legislator. It’s a custom, weekly report on what your state Senator and Assemblymember did that week — every word they said in public hearings, every bill introduced, every vote cast and more.
My Legislator takes a massive amount of information on 120 state legislators — 40 Senators and 80 Assemblymembers — who consider ~5,000 bills during each two-year legislative session.
The newsletter breaks down: how your legislators cast their votes (or if they missed a vote), what they said, announcements from their offices, historical context around who’s funding and influencing them, the bills they authored as they make their way through the legislative process, what the numbers mean and how the lawmaking process works, how they’re measuring up to their colleagues on bills passed, missed votes, bipartisanship and more.
We also customize what we share about each legislator based on what’s going on. For example, we highlight recent reporting from CalMatters and partner newsrooms if it’s related to the information a reader is seeing about their legislator. To build context for readers without overwhelming them, we rotate in information about lawmakers’ campaign donors, how often their votes align with specific organizations, and how they ranked in previous sessions.
And for Californians who don’t know who their state representatives are, you can enter your your home address and find out, and then sign up to follow them.
Congratulations to the large newsroom winner, The Boston Globe for “From Reach to Connection,” to the medium newsroom winner, The Boston Globe for “Camberville,” and to the other finalists: Vermont Public for “Sprouted” and 19th News for “The 19th Takes on Menopause and Builds a Community.”
