digital
innovation
multimedia
police shootings
refugees
storytelling
Washington Post Wins NPF Digital Innovation Awards

The Washington Post has won two digital innovation awards sponsored by the National Press Foundation.

The Post journalists will receive the awards at NPF’s annual journalism awards dinner on Thursday, Feb. 16, at the Marriott Marquis hotel in Washington, D.C., along with other award winners. Learn more about the NPF dinner and awards here.

washington_postThe Washington Post’s investigation into police shootings will receive NPF’s Innovation in Journalism Award. The NPF judges said: “The Post changed the arc of an ongoing story by methodically building a database that added facts and evidence to the ongoing emotionally-charged narrative. Some of the facts were counter-intuitive – for all the rightful anger about shootings of unarmed African-Americans, ‘The dead were overwhelmingly white men with guns, who had attacked or threatened people.’ On the other hand, the data showed disturbing facts: unarmed African-Americans were killed at a rate seven times higher than unarmed whites. A quarter of those killed were mentally ill. More than 50 officers involved in shootings had killed before. The project forced the FBI to admit that the Post had compiled a more complete database than it had, and the law agency is replicating the Post’s work.”

The judges awarded an honorable mention to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists’ “Panama Papers” project, recognizing “the sheer size and scope of a project that represents the work of hundreds of news organizations across the globe.”

NPF’s Best Use of Technology in Journalism Award goes to six Washington Post journalists for “The Waypoint,” a multimedia presentation on the tide of refugees washing up on Europe’s shores. The NPF judges said: “This was a well-crafted narrative that serves as testament to true human perseverance. The use of technology allows readers to be part of the deeply emotional journey of seeking asylum. High-tech tools brought the narrative to life.” The journalists are Samuel Granados, Zoeann Murphy, Griff Witte, Kevin Schaul, Emily Chow and Kat Downs.

The judges assigned an honorable mention to The Wall Street Journal “for creating an original tool that gave readers a side-by-side look at real conversations on Facebook from both sides of the political spectrum.”

The National Press Foundation established these two awards in 2015 to encourage innovation in storytelling and usage of ever-changing technological tools in journalism. Previous winners can be seen here and here.

These two awards carry an educational component so more journalists can learn from the work that went into the award-winning projects. Examples can be seen here. The events will be held at a later date.

The National Press Foundation is an independent nonprofit that is run by and for journalists. NPF’s sole mission is to educate practicing journalists about today’s most pressing issues and critical toolbox training.

 

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