Eli Cahan, a freelance writer for Capital & Main and the USA Today Network, along with Gavin Off, Adam Wagner and Ames Alexander of The Charlotte Observer and the Raleigh News & Observer shared the Thomas L. Stokes Award for Best Energy and Environment Writing, the National Press Foundation announced April 21.
From an outstanding field of applicants, the judges selected a winner from a nonprofit newsroom and traditional newsrooms, which they hope will inspire other journalism organizations.
‘Powerful narrative journalism’
Cahan’s feature, “We’re Losing Our People,” draws attention to indigenous groups that face lung disease from regular exposure to toxic metals in nearby mines. He analyzes the disproportionate toll COVID-19 took on indigenous groups with pre-existing lung problems.
Cahan spoke with the Laguna people in New Mexico, along with Navajo and Acoma people, who face negative health impacts from mines across Arizona, Utah and Colorado.
He explained the effects of copper, uranium and vanadium particles on the lungs of nearby residents, causing health problems like idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, lung cancer and increased vulnerability to COVID-19.
Judges praised the piece for its “poignancy and impact” and called it “beautiful storytelling providing a sense of place, historical context and giving a voice to people who have not been heard.”
‘The state is not watching the hen house – literally’
Gavin Off and Ames Alexander of The Charlotte Observer, in partnership with the Raleigh News & Observer’s Adam Wagner, published “Big Poultry,” a three–part deep-dive into North Carolina’s poultry industry, which raises over 1 billion birds and generates 2.5 billion pounds of manure, which can leach into nearby water sources and affect North Carolinians’ health.
The reporters found that North Carolina does not oversee the industry’s environmental impact and that ammonia from the waste in chicken farms reaches all the way to Maryland through the Chesapeake Bay.
Judges lauded the fact that the McClatchy newspapers “teamed up on a true public service mission to give a literal scorecard on how the poultry industry is operating in North Carolina … [and] exposing how little neighbors have in terms of recourse.”
The investigation features “impressive” animation and visualization of the densely built chicken farms in North Carolina for an overall journalism package judges called “exemplary.”
Overall, judges were “blown away” by the volume and quality of this year’s applicants. After years of fighting for attention for environmental reporting, this year’s finalists ranged from veteran journalists from established news organizations with huge audiences to the nonprofit Boulder Reporting Lab, which included the work of student reporters. “It makes you realize the state of journalism is strong,” judges said.
The Stokes Award was established in Spring 1959 to honor the late Thomas L. Stokes, a columnist on national affairs who had a personal interest in energy, natural resources and the environment. It is given annually for the best reporting in those subject areas.
Judges for the award were Tom Davidson of Gannett, Debbie Elliott of National Public Radio, Ronnie Greene of Thomson Reuters and Rod Kuckro of Twin Matrix. (Davidson, an NPF board member, recused himself regarding Cahan’s work, as Gannett owns USA Today.)
