Uncategorized

Finalists announced for 71st Scripps Howard Journalism Awards

CINCINNATI – The Scripps Howard Fund will honor the best in American journalism during the 71st Scripps Howard Journalism Awards on Oct. 20. From excellence in breaking news and investigative reporting – to visual storytelling and opinion writing, this year’s finalists produced journalism that not only informed but transformed.

The Scripps Howard Journalism Awards, one of the nation’s most prestigious journalism competitions, honor work from television stations and networks, radio and podcasts, visual media, online media outlets, independent producers, newspapers and print publications.

“The journalism produced by this year’s finalists exposed wrongdoing, held the powerful accountable, shaped policies and helped correct historical records,” said Meredith Delaney, president and CEO of the Scripps Howard Fund. “The 71st Scripps Howard Journalism Awards will shine a light on the responsibility these journalists have to tell their community’s stories – and serve as democracy’s watchdog.”

The Scripps Howard Journalism Awards judges – a panel of veteran journalists and media leaders – selected this year’s finalists from 775 entries across 14 categories. The Fund will present $170,000 in prize money to the winning news organizations and journalists.

The winners will be announced during a special program airing at 8 p.m. ET on Sunday, Oct. 20, on Scripps News. The awards show, hosted by Christian Bryant, also will reveal the winner of the coveted Impact Award, which is chosen from the finalists of the other 14 categories. The award honors the journalism that produced the greatest impact.

The 71st Scripps Howard Journalism Awards finalists are:

View the gallery of finalists here.

Excellence in Audio Storytelling, honoring Jack R. Howard
Rococo Punch and iHeart Podcasts – “The Turning: Room of Mirrors”
Serial Productions and The New York Times – “The Retrievals”
The Boston Globe in association with HBO Documentary Films – “Murder in Boston”

Excellence in Breaking News
The Associated Press – “Deadly Maui Wildfires”
Lookout Santa Cruz – “Santa Cruz County Storms”
Los Angeles Times – “A Massacre in Monterey Park”

Excellence in Business/Financial Reporting
KFF Health News – “Payback: Tracking the Opioid Settlement Cash”
ProPublica and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in collaboration with the Medill Investigative Lab – “With Every Breath: Millions of Breathing Machines. One Dangerous Defect”
The New York Times – “Alone and Exploited”

Excellence in Environmental Reporting, honoring Edward W. “Ted” Scripps II
San Francisco Chronicle – “Firefighters are Being Poisoned by Wildfire Smoke. We’re Doing Little to Protect Their Health”
The New York Times – “Uncharted Waters”
The Washington Post – “The Human Limit”

Distinguished Service to the First Amendment, honoring Edward Willis Scripps
Hearst Connecticut Media Group – “Transparency Failures Sow Distrust in City Marred by Corruption”
Open Vallejo – “‘No Responsive Records’: How Vallejo Hid Killings by Police”
The Kansas City Star and The Wichita Eagle – “Marion Record Raid”

Excellence in Innovation, honoring Roy W. Howard
ProPublica – “Roots of an Outbreak”
ProPublica and The Desert Sun – “Thirsty Valley”
The Washington Post – “3D Analyses of Violence in the West Bank”

Excellence in Local/Regional Investigative Reporting
City Bureau and Invisible Institute – “Missing in Chicago”
Miami Herald – “The Foreclosure Franchise”
The Cincinnati Enquirer, The Columbus Dispatch, Akron Beacon Journal, Canton Repository – “Chaos in Ohio’s Youth Lockups”

Excellence in Local Video Storytelling, honoring Jack. R. Howard
KARE-TV Minneapolis – “KARE 11 Investigates: Broken Promises”
KUSA-TV Denver and WTSP-TV – “UNDETERMINED”
New York Amsterdam News – “Be-Loved”

Excellence in Multimedia Journalism
The Associated Press – “Adrift”
Reuters – “The Bat Lands”
The Boston Globe – “Nightmare in Mission Hill”

Excellence in Narrative Human-Interest Storytelling, honoring Ernie Pyle
NPR – “Ukraine Kindergarten”
The Boston Globe – “Nightmare in Mission Hill”
The Texas Tribune – “She Was Told Her Twin Sons Wouldn’t Survive. Texas Law Made Her Give Birth Anyway.”

Excellence in National/International Investigative Reporting, the Ursula and Gilbert Farfel Prize
ProPublica – “Friends of the Court”
Reuters – “The Musk Industrial Complex”
The New York Times – “Alone and Exploited”

Excellence in National/International Video Storytelling, honoring Jack R. Howard
FRONTLINE (PBS) – “Clarence and Ginni Thomas: Politics, Power and the Supreme Court”
FRONTLINE (PBS) and The Associated Press – “20 Days in Mariupol”
The Center for Investigative Reporting, Motto Pictures and Netflix – “Victim/Suspect”

Excellence in Opinion Writing
Coda Story and Ukrainska Pravda – “Fallout: Tracking the Global Impacts of Russia’s War in Ukraine”
Los Angeles Times – “Inside Out: Normalizing Incarceration to Increase Public Safety”
The Washington Post – “Men are lost. Here’s a map out of the wilderness”

Excellence in Visual Human-Interest Storytelling
El Paso Times – “Dreams, despair & death – A migrant’s journey. A year of covering the Immigration crisis”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution – “The South Got Something To Say”
MSNBC – “On Assignment with Richard Engel: Ukraine’s Secret Resistance”

The Scripps Howard Fund, in partnership with the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication also announced the winners and finalists for its two journalism education awards:

Teacher of the Year
Winner: Nicole Kraft, The Ohio State University
Finalist: Leon Alligood, Middle Tennessee State University

Administrator of the Year
Winner: Ann Brill, University of Kansas
Finalist: Laura Lindenfeld, Stony Brook University

These national awards recognize excellence in teaching and administration within journalism and communication programs. Both awards were presented at the 2024 AEJMC Conference in August.

Learn more about past Scripps Howard Journalism Award winners at SHJAwards.org.

Media contact: Molly Miossi, The E.W. Scripps Company, 513-977-3713, [email protected]  

About the Scripps Howard Fund
The Scripps Howard Fund, a public charity established by The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP), is dedicated to creating informed and engaged communities through journalism education, childhood literacy and local causes. At the crossroads of the classroom and the newsroom, the Fund is a leader in supporting journalism through scholarships, internships, minority recruitment and development and First Amendment causes. The Scripps Howard Awards stand as one of the industry’s top honors for outstanding journalism. The Fund’s annual “If You Give a Child a Book …” childhood literacy campaign has distributed thousands of new books to children in need across the nation. The Fund partners with Scripps brands to create awareness of local issues and support organizations that build thriving communities. The Scripps Howard Fund administers funding for the Scripps Howard Foundation, a private foundation established in 1962 to advance charitable causes important to The E.W. Scripps Company and the Scripps and Howard families.

Double your impact: Scripps Howard Fund matches donations for ‘If You Give a Child a Book …’ campaign

CINCINNATI – The Scripps Howard Fund is doubling its impact for one day, in celebration of National Literacy Month. Today, Sept. 4, the Fund will match the first $175,000 donated to the “If You Give a Child a Book …” childhood literacy campaign.

For every $12 donated, the Fund gives two books to a child in need. Donations can be made at ifyougiveabook.com.

Donate today: Make a difference and double your impact.

The “If You Give a Child a Book …” campaign is supported by The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP) and its employees, the communities it serves and Scripps family members. The campaign’s primary focus is reaching underserved and vulnerable children living in poverty, by distributing free books to kids in kindergarten through third grade who are still learning to read.

“Third grade is a pivotal time in a child’s life. After that grade level, they’re going from learning how to read to reading to learn,” said Meredith Delaney, president and CEO of the Scripps Howard Fund. “If they don’t hit that critical literacy milestone, they start falling behind academically – and it’s so hard for them to make that up.”

Watch: Students and educators talk about the impact of the “If You Give a Child a Book …” campaign.

Scripps Howard Fund leaders also believe in giving children the power of choice when it comes to their reading materials. Through a partnership with Scholastic Books, the Fund brings Scholastic Book Fairs to Title 1 schools, so students can select their own books to bring home. The free book fairs are held throughout the school year.  The Fund’s goal is to ensure every student in the low-income schools with which it partners receives 10 books each year.

Last year, the Fund raised a record-breaking $1.2 million for its “If You Give a Child a Book …” campaign. Since the campaign launched in 2016, the Fund has distributed more than 1.25 million books to children in need.

The Scripps Howard Fund invested more than $8.7 million in charitable gifts in 2023 for journalism education, childhood literacy and community giving.

To learn more and donate visit ifyougiveabook.com.

Media contact: Molly Miossi, The E.W. Scripps Company, 513-977-3713, [email protected]  

About the Scripps Howard Fund
The Scripps Howard Fund , a public charity established by The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP), is dedicated to creating informed and engaged communities through journalism education, childhood literacy and local causes. At the crossroads of the classroom and the newsroom, the Fund is a leader in supporting journalism through scholarships, internships, minority recruitment and development and First Amendment causes. The Scripps Howard Awards stand as one of the industry’s top honors for outstanding journalism. The Fund’s annual “If You Give a Child a Book …” childhood literacy campaign has distributed thousands of new books to children in need across the nation. The Fund partners with Scripps brands to create awareness of local issues and support organizations that build thriving communities. The Scripps Howard Fund administers funding for the Scripps Howard Foundation, a private foundation established in 1962 to advance charitable causes important to The E.W. Scripps Company and the Scripps and Howard families.

Scripps Howard Fund announces new class of Roy W. Howard Fellows

CINCINNATI – Five investigative journalists will receive hands-on experience working at major media outlets as the new class of Roy W. Howard Fellows. The yearlong fellowships are supported by the Scripps Howard Fund.

The nonprofit newsrooms hosting the fellows during the program are: The Maine Monitor, Wisconsin Watch, The Baltimore Banner, Mississippi Today and Borderless Magazine.

The fellowships honor Roy W. Howard, former chairman of the Scripps Howard newspaper chain and a pioneering news reporter whose relentless pursuit of the news took him around the world, spurred innovation and helped lay the groundwork for modern journalism.

The fellowships, which are awarded biannually, are given to graduates of the Howard Centers for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland and Arizona State University. The Howard Centers were established in 2018. The Scripps Howard Fund is a public charity that supports causes important to The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP) and the Scripps and Howard families.

The 2024-2025 Roy W. Howard Fellows:

Adrienne Washington
Washington is an Editor & Publisher EPPY award-winning investigative journalist with a Master of Arts in investigative journalism from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. Washington holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism with a minor in diversity studies from the University of Washington, where she was awarded the Pioneer News Group Community Journalism award for her work covering income, gender and language barriers in the Seattle area. Her work has been featured in The Associated Press, The Seattle Times, Los Angeles Times, ABC News and Cronkite News, as well as in local reporting outlets in the Puget Sound and the metro Phoenix area. She began her yearlong Roy W. Howard Fellowship with The Maine Monitor in July.

Khushboo Rathore
Rathore graduated from the University of Maryland in May with dual bachelor’s degrees in journalism and information science. Rathore specializes in gathering inaccessible data and creating visualizations and websites to show information. She has worked on projects with The Associated Press, the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism, Local News Network and The Frederick News-Post. Rathore began her fellowship at Wisconsin Watch in July.

Sapna Bansil
Bansil received her master’s degree in journalism in May from the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism. Bansil worked as a data reporter for UMD’s Howard Center for Investigative Journalism, where she wrote stories and produced a video for an enterprise project on youth tackle football in collaboration with The Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism. She also covered the statehouse for Capital News Service. She worked as an intern for The Washington Post and The Philadelphia Inquirer. Before her career in journalism, Bansil worked for nearly 10 years as a pediatric occupational therapist at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore. Bansil begins her fellowship at the Baltimore Banner in August.

Steph Quinn
Quinn graduated in May 2024 with a master’s degree from the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism. She reported on juvenile justice for Capital News Service and was chosen as a student leader on two projects at UMD’s Howard Center for Investigative Journalism, including a partnership with The Associated Press on “Lethal Restraint.” With a Ph.D. in history, she brings to her reporting a decade of experience researching how migrant laborers and women shaped urban life in Namibia during apartheid. After earning her doctorate from Stanford University in 2019, Quinn held a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of the Free State in South Africa, where she lived for more than three years. She will begin her fellowship at Mississippi Today in September.

Fatema Hosseini
Hosseini received her master’s degree in May from the University of Maryland. Since 2019, she has written for Kabul Now, USA Today and Capital News Service about gender discrimination in Afghanistan, immigration and policy issues, water contamination and the violation of veterans’ rights in the U.S. She is researching terrorism in Afghanistan. Her recent investigation explored how ISIS-Khorasan was able to launch an attack in Moscow. Hosseini begins her fellowship at Borderless Magazine in September.

Media contact: Molly Miossi, The E.W. Scripps Company, 513-977-3713, [email protected]

About the Scripps Howard Fund
The Scripps Howard Fund , a public charity established by The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP), is dedicated to creating informed and engaged communities through journalism education, childhood literacy and local causes. At the crossroads of the classroom and the newsroom, the Fund is a leader in supporting journalism through award-winning journalism education programs; scholarships, internships and fellowships; funding to advance diversity and inclusion; and support of First Amendment causes. The Scripps Howard Awards stand as one of the industry’s top honors for outstanding journalism. The Fund’s annual “If You Give a Child a Book …” childhood literacy campaign has distributed thousands of new books to children in need across the nation. The Fund partners with Scripps brands to create awareness of local issues and support organizations that build thriving communities. The Scripps Howard Fund administers funding for the Scripps Howard Foundation, a private foundation established in 1962 to advance charitable causes important to The E.W. Scripps Company and the Scripps and Howard families.

Acclaimed Cleveland chef who helps ex-offenders create culinary careers honored with S.J. Dilenschneider Community Award

CINCINNATI – The Scripps Howard Fund honored Brandon Chrostowski, an acclaimed Cleveland chef and founder of a program that gives formerly incarcerated individuals a second chance, with the annual S.J. Dilenschneider Community Award.

The award honors the late S.J. Dilenschneider, a longtime executive with Scripps-Howard newspapers. A panel of judges selected Chrostowski from nominees recommended by Scripps’ local television stations across the country.

The award, including a $10,000 cash prize, is given to an individual or group of individuals in Scripps’ local markets who exemplify the spirit of Dilenschneider and The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP). Civility, leadership, community spirit and mentorship are among the criteria used to select the winner.

Chrostowski’s passion for helping ex-offenders with reentry began after he was given a second chance. Facing a lengthy prison sentence at 18 years old, Chrostowski said he got forgiveness from a judge and mentorship from a chef. He used his experience to pay it forward.

“There’s lot of people who deserve a shot at a great life and unfortunately, because whatever it is – criminal past, skin color, religion – they don’t get this, and to me that’s inhumane and so in this sector of the world, we’re trying to make sure that is not the case,” Chrostowski said in an interview with WEWS News 5, the Scripps-owned television station in Cleveland.

After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America and receiving training at some of the world’s finest restaurants, Chrostowski founded EDWINS Leadership & Restaurant Institute, a 501(c)(3) organization. Established in 2007, the six-month program, conducted at EDWINS Leadership & Restaurant Institute, gives ex-offenders the tools they need for a career in the restaurant industry. Students also receive assistance with finding employment, receive free housing, basic medical care and a support network to set them up for long-term success.

The Institute graduates 75 students a year, many of whom gain employment in dining establishments across the country. According to a survey conducted by Case Western Reserve University professor Chris Laszlo, graduates of the program boast a 95% employment rate and less than 1% rate of recidivism after 10 years, compared to the usual rate of 83%.

“Mr. Chrostowski’s vision of creating a support system that provides everyone, regardless of their past, with opportunities for a successful future is commendable,” said Meredith Delaney, president and CEO of the Scripps Howard Fund. “An example of S.J. Dilenschneider’s legacy – Mr. Chrostowski mentors and inspires his students to do good in their communities.”

Since its founding, EDWINS has grown to include an award-winning French restaurant, butcher shop, bakery and Edwins Too – a culinary incubator for aspiring chefs and entrepreneurs.

Chrostowski was named a James Beard Award finalist in 2023 and a semifinalist in 2022, both in the “Outstanding Restaurateur” category.

News 5 Cleveland surprised Chrostowski with the S.J. Dilenschneider Community Award on June 13 at EDWINS Leadership & Restaurant Institute.

Watch the surprise here.

Media contact: Molly Miossi, The E.W. Scripps Company, 513-977-3713, [email protected]

About the Scripps Howard Fund
The Scripps Howard Fund , a public charity established by The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP), is dedicated to creating informed and engaged communities through journalism education, childhood literacy and local causes. At the crossroads of the classroom and the newsroom, the Fund is a leader in supporting journalism through award-winning journalism education programs; scholarships, internships and fellowships; funding to advance diversity and inclusion; and support of First Amendment causes. The Scripps Howard Awards stand as one of the industry’s top honors for outstanding journalism. The Fund’s annual “If You Give a Child a Book …” childhood literacy campaign has distributed thousands of new books to children in need across the nation. The Fund partners with Scripps brands to create awareness of local issues and support organizations that build thriving communities. The Scripps Howard Fund administers funding for the Scripps Howard Foundation, a private foundation established in 1962 to advance charitable causes important to The E.W. Scripps Company and the Scripps and Howard families.

Scripps Howard Fund establishes Roy Howard Community Journalism Center at The University of Southern Mississippi

CINCINNATI – The Scripps Howard Fund is investing $3 million to help student journalists learn how to cover under-reported communities while combatting misinformation and providing important journalism.

The Fund selected The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) to host the Roy Howard Community Journalism Center. USM, which plans to launch the center during the 2024-25 academic year, will receive $1 million per year for three years to create and operate the center.

The center was established in honor of Roy W. Howard, former chairman of the Scripps Howard newspaper chain. Led by a team of professional journalists and instructors, the center will help students provide reliable reporting in their community while building relationships and trust. As part of their coverage, students also will debunk false information and seek to expose the sources of misinformation for their audiences.

“The expansion of news deserts across the country is having a profound impact on the people who live in these communities. Student journalists – who are the future of the profession – have a chance to help solve that problem,” said Mike Canan, director of journalism strategies for the Scripps Howard Fund. “We believe the investment in the Community Journalism Center at USM will provide essential news coverage in the entire Southeast Mississippi region. It also will help students learn how to reach people living in places that no longer have news coverage and might not be eager to trust journalists.”

The Roy Howard Community Journalism Center at USM will include:

• Experiential learning: USM will develop a pipeline of young talent for Mississippi’s newsrooms by putting university, community college and high school students to work under the professional guidance of staff, faculty and partners.
• Local reporting: Students will create professional-level local content, with source transparency as a fundamental value. The coverage will be available across platforms that connect with an underserved population in Southeast Mississippi.
• Trust building: The center will operate a “What is True” section, which will monitor websites and social media streams that have a track record of disseminating misinformation in the targeted region. The team will also host a “What is True” hotline for residents, a podcast and a website to help audiences to separate fact from fiction. The community will also be invited to attend “What is True” events to discuss issues related to news coverage and build media literacy.

“At Southern Miss, we are committed to preparing graduates who are ready for life,” said Dr. Lance Nail, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at USM. “The Roy Howard Community Journalism Center will do just that, as it will be the first fully realized media literacy initiative in Mississippi and will address the news desert of Southeast Mississippi. Now, more than ever, we must provide students with opportunities to flourish in a world where truth is often hidden and facts are seldom the headlines. The Roy Howard Community Journalism Center at Southern Miss will serve our communities while preparing our students to seek out and share truth.”

USM will partner with five Mississippi journalism organizations: Mississippi Association of Broadcasters; Mississippi Press Association; Mississippi Public Broadcasting; Mississippi Today; and Mississippi Scholastic Press Association. The partners will contribute expertise and awareness and distribute the journalism the students produce across the state.

USM will establish the center in three locations: the main headquarters on the campus in Hattiesburg, a bureau on the Gulf Park coast campus and a bureau embedded with Mississippi Public Broadcasting in Jackson. The locations will allow students to establish geographic beats, set up subject area beats and work with partner outlets to develop local and regional stories.

The center will be part of the School of Media and Communication, which is part of the College of Arts and Sciences at The University of Southern Mississippi.

Learn about all the Scripps Howard Fund’s nationally recognized journalism education programs here.

This funding is aligned with Press Forward, a national movement to strengthen communities by reinvigorating local news. For more information, visit pressforward.news.

Media contact: Molly Miossi, The E.W. Scripps Company, 513-977-3713, [email protected]

About Scripps Howard Fund
The Scripps Howard Fund , a public charity established by The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP), is dedicated to creating informed and engaged communities through journalism education, childhood literacy and local causes. At the crossroads of the classroom and the newsroom, the Fund is a leader in supporting journalism through award-winning journalism education programs; scholarships, internships and fellowships; funding to advance diversity and inclusion; and support of First Amendment causes. The Scripps Howard Awards stand as one of the industry’s top honors for outstanding journalism. The Fund’s annual “If You Give a Child a Book …” childhood literacy campaign has distributed thousands of new books to children in need across the nation. The Fund partners with Scripps brands to create awareness of local issues and support organizations that build thriving communities. The Scripps Howard Fund administers funding for the Scripps Howard Foundation, a private foundation established in 1962 to advance charitable causes important to The E.W. Scripps Company and the Scripps and Howard families.

Scripps Howard Fund awarded $8.7 million to community; journalism programs in 2023

CINCINNATI – The Scripps Howard Fund, a public charity established by The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP), gave more than $8.7 million in charitable gifts during 2023, a nearly 7.5% increase from 2022. 

The Fund supports communities where The E.W. Scripps Company does business, while its journalism programs and funding reach people across the globe.  

“By collaborating with dedicated partners — The E.W. Scripps Company, the Scripps and Howard families, Scripps viewers, advertisers, employees and allies — we’ve fueled the advancement of journalism education, childhood literacy and community causes across the nation,” said Liz Carter, president and CEO of the Scripps Howard Fund. “In this report, we illuminate the collective impact we’ve achieved and celebrate the power of collaboration. Our heartfelt thanks to all our donors, supporters and volunteers for standing with us. Together, we are not just giving light; we are changing lives and building a brighter tomorrow.” 

Click here to view the Scripps Howard Fund’s 2023 Impact Report 

The Scripps Howard Fund partners with Scripps’ local television stations in 40+ markets, national networks and entertainment brands, which reach nearly every American TV household over the air.  

“At a time when trust in professional journalism is low, the Scripps Howard Fund remains dedicated to Scripps’ mission of informing and empowering those we serve with our news outlets,” said Adam Symson, Scripps’ president and CEO. “From undergraduate internships to post-graduate fellowships, the Fund’s journalism programs provide the tools needed to produce impactful, objective work. Its partnership with Scripps’ national networks and local stations allows the Fund to support causes across the country, which helps to build thriving communities.”  

The Fund’s 2023 giving included:  

$5.4 million to advance journalism 

• The Fund’s Howard Centers for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland and Arizona State University arm college students with in-depth investigative reporting skills. With an annual investment of $2.5 million, the Centers honor the legacy of Roy W. Howard, former chairman of the Scripps Howard newspaper chain and a pioneering news reporter who helped lay the groundwork for modern journalism. In total, the Howard Centers have published 19 national investigations and nearly 200 stories, winning more than 40 professional and student awards over the past five years. 
• Each year the Fund’s internship program opens doors for two dozen students from diverse backgrounds, providing hands-on experience. To ensure accessibility, the Fund offers grants covering relocation, travel and other expenses. The Fund has awarded seven diversity and inclusion in journalism grants, totaling $150,000. The grants went to universities and nonprofits.
• The 70th Scripps Howard Awards celebrated 2022’s most innovative storytelling and in-depth reporting with $170,000 in prize money. The Scripps Howard Awards judges – a panel of veteran journalists and media leaders – selected the winners from 780 entries across 15 categories. 

$1 million to improve childhood literacy 

• Donations from The E.W. Scripps Company, viewers, employees and family members provided more than 220,000 books to thousands of students in nearly 83 low-income schools across the United States during the 2022-2023 school year. 
• In April 2023, the Fund celebrated distribution of its millionth book with students at a school in East Nashville, Tennessee.
• Inspired by its donors, author Dav Pilkey donated 25,000 copies of his latest book, “Dog Man: Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea,” to students in the Fund’s partner schools, and Scholastic donated 25,000 copies of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” to the schools.

$2.3 million to give back in communities served by The E.W. Scripps Company  

• The Scripps Howard Fund partners with local Scripps-owned stations to support causes important to their communities.
• Examples of community giving include:
• In July 2023, WXYZ, the ABC-affiliated television station in Detroit, partnered with the Fund to highlight Forgotten Harvest and its mission to help its community. The local foodbank said its need for services had grown 20% as food insecurity increased. During the fundraiser, viewers donated nearly $92,000 to provide 400,000 meals for neighbors in need. This is the second year for the campaign, which in total has raised $172,000 and provided 800,000 individual meals.
• In August 2023, wildfires spread across Maui, Hawaii, killing at least 100 people and destroying communities in its path. Scripps News, along with local Scripps-owned stations across the country, rallied their audiences to donate to the Scripps Howard Fund’s Maui Wildfire Relief. More than 11,000 donors raised $84,200 to help those devastated by the fire.
• Through the Fund’s employee programs, Scripps employees can apply for up to $1,250 twice a year to support organizations where they give their time and money. For example, in 2023, Diane Duenez, a national special projects producer with Scripps News, received $2,500 in volunteer grants to support Fight Colorectal Cancer (Fight CRC), a cause important to her. Duenez has received more than $5,000 since 2021 to support causes important to her.

Visit the Fund’s Give page to support journalism education, childhood literacy and community giving. 

Media contact: Molly Miossi, The E.W. Scripps Company, 513-977-3713, [email protected] 

About Scripps Howard Fund 
The Scripps Howard Fund , a public charity established by The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP), is dedicated to creating informed and engaged communities through journalism education, childhood literacy and local causes. At the crossroads of the classroom and the newsroom, the Fund is a leader in supporting journalism through scholarships, internships, minority recruitment and development and First Amendment causes. The Scripps Howard Awards stand as one of the industry’s top honors for outstanding journalism. The Fund’s annual “If You Give a Child a Book …” childhood literacy campaign has distributed thousands of new books to children in need across the nation. The Fund partners with Scripps brands to create awareness of local issues and support organizations that build thriving communities. The Scripps Howard Fund administers funding for the Scripps Howard Foundation, a private foundation established in 1962 to advance charitable causes important to The E.W. Scripps Company and the Scripps and Howard families.   

71st Scripps Howard Awards accepting entries Jan. 3-Feb. 5

CINCINNATI – The Scripps Howard Fund is accepting entries for the 71st Scripps Howard Awards, one of the nation’s most prestigious journalism competitions.

The awards honor the journalism and storytelling produced in 2023. The deadline to apply is Feb. 5.

Click here to apply for the 71st Scripps Howard Awards.

With a focus on high-impact and investigative storytelling, the Scripps Howard Awards offers $170,000 in prize money in 15 categories. Categories include:

• Audio Storytelling
• Breaking News
• Business/Financial Reporting
• Environmental Reporting
• Distinguished Service to the First Amendment
• Narrative Human-Interest Storytelling
• Visual Human-Interest Storytelling
• Innovation
• Local/Regional Investigative Reporting
• National/International Investigative Reporting
• Multimedia Journalism
• Opinion Writing
• Local Video Storytelling
• National/International Video Storytelling
• Impact Award*

*The Impact Award winner is chosen from the winners of the other 14 categories and select finalists.  

Find the full category descriptions here.

The awards honor work from television stations, networks, radio and podcasts, visual media, online media outlets, independent producers, newspapers and other print publications.

Finalists will be announced in September, with winners announced in October during a special program airing on Scripps News, the national broadcast news network owned by The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP).

“The Scripps Howard Awards celebrate the journalists who worked tirelessly to tell our stories, expose the truth and make a difference in the communities where their viewers live and work,” said Liz Carter, president and CEO of the Scripps Howard Fund. “The awards showcase their journalism – and the work that went into it –on a national stage.”

Watch the 70th Scripps Howard Awards and go behind the scenes with the finalists.

Last year’s winners represent newsrooms large and small, with the Impact Award going to American Public Media for “Sold a Story: How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong.” Reporter Emily Hanford unmasked how four influential authors and their publishers sustained the status quo, convincing teachers for decades to embrace a reading program that research has proven to be ineffective and damaging to students. The podcast prompted widespread change, at least 15 states have taken new action related to reading instruction.

Get the latest news from the Scripps Howard Awards at SHAwards.org.

Media contact: Molly Miossi, The E.W. Scripps Company, 513-977-3713, [email protected]

About the Scripps Howard Fund
The Scripps Howard Fund , a public charity established by The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP), is dedicated to creating informed and engaged communities through journalism education, childhood literacy and local causes. At the crossroads of the classroom and the newsroom, the Fund is a leader in supporting journalism through scholarships, internships, minority recruitment and development and First Amendment causes. The Scripps Howard Awards stand as one of the industry’s top honors for outstanding journalism. The Fund’s annual “If You Give a Child a Book …” childhood literacy campaign has distributed thousands of new books to children in need across the nation. The Fund partners with Scripps brands to create awareness of local issues and support organizations that build thriving communities. The Scripps Howard Fund administers funding for the Scripps Howard Foundation, a private foundation established in 1962 to advance charitable causes important to The E.W. Scripps Company and the Scripps and Howard families.

Scripps Howard Fund announces spring 2024 class of Roy W. Howard Fellows

CINCINNATI – Five investigative journalists will receive hands-on training working with major nonprofit media outlets as part of the Scripps Howard Fund’s Roy W. Howard Fellowship program.

The newsrooms participating in the yearlong program are: Asheville Watchdog, Inside Climate News, National Public Radio (NPR), Open Secrets and Texas Observer.

The fellowships honor Roy W. Howard, former chairman of the Scripps Howard newspaper chain and a pioneering news reporter with The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP).

The fellowships, which are awarded bi-annually, are given to graduates of the Howard Centers for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland and Arizona State University. The Scripps Howard Fund established the Howard Centers in 2018.

The spring 2024 class of Roy W. Howard Fellows:

Francesca D’Annunzio – Howard Center for Investigative Journalism, Arizona State University
D’Annunzio earned a master’s degree in investigative journalism at ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. She received her undergraduate degree in the humanities program at the University of Texas. D’Annunzio has reported on deportations in the Dominican Republic, Christian nationalism, the U.S.-Mexico border, right-wing sheriffs, Arizona’s water crisis and zoning and housing policy in Texas. Her work has been published or syndicated in The Guardian US, The Dallas Morning News, Religion News Service, the Global Investigative Journalism Network, the Texas Standard and The Arizona Republic. D’Annunzio begins her fellowship at Texas Observer in January.

Victoria Ifatusin – Howard Center for Investigative Journalism, University of Maryland
Ifatusin earned her undergraduate degree in communications from the City University of New York’s College of Staten Island, where she interned for the Staten Island Advance, The Brooklyn Reader and Sirius XM. She was offered a Howard Fellowship to attend graduate school at the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism. She started the master’s program three months early so she could work on the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism’s “Printing Hate” project, investigating the historic role of white-owned newspapers in inciting lynchings and other forms of racial violence. Ifatusin also worked on the center’s “Mega Billions” project, examining how state lotteries transfer wealth out of needy communities. She contributed data work to two projects, one investigating sports betting on college campuses and the other a collaboration with the Associated Press examining police conduct. After graduating from Merrill College in May 2023, Ifatusin went to work for Education Week as a digital news specialist. She will begin working for the Asheville Watchdog in March.

Albert Serna Jr. – Howard Center for Investigative Journalism, Arizona State University
Serna received his master’s degree in investigative journalism from ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in August 2023. A strong supporter of community-focused reporting, Serna looks for stories that impact underserved groups to expose injustice, government failure and abuses of power at all levels. His previous work as an investigative intern with the Tampa Bay Times found a system in Florida that encouraged racially motivated policing. Over nine months, Serna’s investigation of the Arizona State Board of Dental Examiners found that the state agency failed to protect the public and hold dentists accountable. Serna begins his fellowship at Open Secrets in January.

Noel Lyn Smith – Howard Center for Investigative Journalism, Arizona State University
Smith earned a master’s degree in investigative journalism from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at ASU. She received her bachelor’s degree in journalism from Northern Arizona University. While at ASU, Smith participated in the Carnegie-Knight News21 program, where she reported on Indigenous women navigating the complex maze of abortion care a year after the reversal of Roe v. Wade. Before returning to ASU to earn her master’s degree, Smith was a reporter for 15 years. She worked for the Farmington Daily Times and the Navajo Times. At both publications, she reported about the Navajo Nation. Her reporting has won awards from the New Mexico Press Association. Smith begins her fellowship at Inside Climate News in January.

Caitlin Thompson – Howard Center for Investigative Journalism, Arizona State University
Thompson received her master’s degree in investigative journalism from ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. She’s also a graduate of Tufts University, where she studied international relations and modern Russian politics. As an investigative reporter and audio journalist, Thompson has reported internationally and across the U.S. She spent a summer working with the data journalism team at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where she wrote stories about housing and labor. As a Global Reporting Centre Investigative Fellow, she reported on the child welfare agency in New Mexico. Previously, she was a reporter for Coda Story based in Tbilisi, Georgia, where she covered surveillance and disinformation. She was on the team at KAZU, an NPR member station in California that won a National Edward R. Murrow Award for wildfire coverage. Thompson begins her fellowship at NPR in January.

Media contact: Molly Miossi, The E.W. Scripps Company, 513-977-3713, [email protected]  

About the Scripps Howard Fund
The Scripps Howard Fund , a public charity established by The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP), is dedicated to creating informed and engaged communities through journalism education, childhood literacy and local causes. At the crossroads of the classroom and the newsroom, the Fund is a leader in supporting journalism through scholarships, internships, minority recruitment and development and First Amendment causes. The Scripps Howard Awards stand as one of the industry’s top honors for outstanding journalism. The Fund’s annual “If You Give a Child a Book …” childhood literacy campaign has distributed thousands of new books to children in need across the nation. The Fund partners with Scripps brands to create awareness of local issues and support organizations that build thriving communities. The Scripps Howard Fund administers funding for the Scripps Howard Foundation, a private foundation established in 1962 to advance charitable causes important to The E.W. Scripps Company and the Scripps and Howard families.

Scripps Howard Fund announces winners of 70th Scripps Howard Awards

CINCINNATI – The journalism produced by the 70th Scripps Howard Award winners spurred action and led to changes across the globe. The Scripps Howard Awards, presented by the Scripps Howard Fund, honor reporting from television stations, networks, radio and podcasts, visual media, online media outlets, independent producers, newspapers and print publications.

Presenters announced the winning news organizations and journalists on Sunday, Oct. 22, during a special program airing on Scripps News, the national news network owned by The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP).  The Scripps Howard Fund is the philanthropic arm of the company.

The Scripps Howard Awards judges – a panel of veteran journalists and media leaders – selected the winners from 780 entries across 14 categories.

“The Scripps Howard Awards honor 2022’s most innovative storytelling and in-depth reporting that has a lasting impact,” said Liz Carter, president and CEO of the Scripps Howard Fund. “In this year’s show, you’ll hear from some of the nation’s most extraordinary journalists and meet some of the people whose stories they told.”

Watch: Go behind the scenes with all of this year’s finalists

The Scripps Howard Fund presented $170,000 in prize money to the winning news organizations and journalists.

The Scripps Howard Awards, hosted by Scripps News anchor Christian Bryant, will be rebroadcast on Saturday, Oct. 28, from 4-6 p.m. ET. A one-hour version of the awards will also replay on some of Scripps’ local stations in November and December – air dates and times will vary depending on the market.

The winners of the 70th Scripps Howard Awards:

Excellence in Audio Storytelling, honoring Jack R. Howard: American Public Media – “Sold a Story: How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong”

Excellence in Breaking News: The Washington Post – “The Start of the War in Ukraine”

Excellence in Business/Financial Reporting: Los Angeles Times – “Legal Weed, Broken Promises”

Excellence in Environmental Reporting, honoring Edward W. “Ted” Scripps II: ProPublica, The New York Times Magazine – “Barbados Resists Climate Colonialism in an Effort to Survive the Costs of Global Warming”

Distinguished Service to the First Amendment, honoring Edward Willis Scripps: Insider – “Deaths in the Family”

Excellence in Innovation, honoring Roy W. Howard: The Markup – “Still Loading”

Excellence in Local/Regional Investigative Reporting: AL.com – “The Rise and Fall of a Predatory Police Force”

Excellence in Local Video Storytelling, honoring Jack. R. Howard: KUSA-TV (Denver) – “Burned”

Excellence in Multimedia Journalism: The New York Times – “Inside the Apocalyptic Worldview of ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’”

Excellence in Narrative Human-Interest Storytelling, honoring Ernie Pyle: The New York Times Magazine – “Lost in Ohio”

Excellence in National/International Investigative Reporting, the Ursula and Gilbert Farfel Prize: FRONTLINE, The Associated Press – “Putin’s Attack on Ukraine: Documenting War Crimes”

Excellence in National/International Video Storytelling, honoring Jack R. Howard: FRONTLINE, The Associated Press – “Michael Flynn’s Holy War”

Excellence in Opinion Writing: Los Angeles Times – “Rebuild | Reburn”

Excellence in Visual Human-Interest Storytelling: San Francisco Chronicle – Visuals Team Portfolio

Impact Award: American Public Media – “Sold a Story: How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong”

Judges’ comments: “’Sold a Story’ is a six-episode podcast series by Emily Hanford that exposes the truth. For decades, cognitive scientists have known that a popular approach to teaching reading was based on incorrect information. For five years, Emily reported on how children learn to read, how reading is taught, and why some struggle, which has had a big impact. Since 2019, 26 states have passed new reading policies. It has led many educators and parents to fuel the current movement to change practices to align with the scientific information.”

The Scripps Howard Fund, in partnership with the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), also announced the winners and finalists for its two journalism education awards:

Teacher of the Year: Rachel Young, University of Iowa

Administrator of the Year: David Kurpius, dean of the Missouri School of Journalism

Media contact: Molly Miossi, The E.W. Scripps Company, 513-977-3713, [email protected]

About the Scripps Howard Fund
The Scripps Howard Fund , a public charity established by The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP), is dedicated to creating informed and engaged communities through journalism education, childhood literacy and local causes. At the crossroads of the classroom and the newsroom, the Fund is a leader in supporting journalism through scholarships, internships, minority recruitment and development and First Amendment causes. The Scripps Howard Awards stand as one of the industry’s top honors for outstanding journalism. The Fund’s annual “If You Give a Child a Book …” childhood literacy campaign has distributed thousands of new books to children in need across the nation. The Fund partners with Scripps brands to create awareness of local issues and support organizations that build thriving communities. The Scripps Howard Fund administers funding from the Scripps Howard Foundation, a private foundation established in 1962 to advance charitable causes important to The E.W. Scripps Company and the Scripps and Howard families.

Scripps Howard Fund raises record-breaking $1.2 million for annual childhood literacy campaign

CINCINNATI – The Scripps Howard Fund’s 2023 “If You Give a Child a Book …” campaign raised a record-breaking $1.2 million during its 8th annual childhood literacy campaign. The donations will provide 200,000 books to children during this academic year.

For every $6 donation, the Fund gives one book to a child in need.

The “If You Give a Child a Book …” campaign is supported by The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP) and its employees, the communities it serves and Scripps family members. The campaign’s primary focus is on reaching underserved and vulnerable children living in poverty, with a special focus on distributing books to kids in kindergarten through third grade, when they are still learning to read.

“Books shouldn’t be a luxury,” said Liz Carter, president and CEO of the Scripps Howard Fund. “Every dollar raised helps a child start building their home library – setting them on a path to success.”

Through the Fund’s collaboration with Scholastic, Scripps’ local stations and national networks distribute the free books during book fairs. The Fund’s goal is to ensure every student in the low-income schools with which it partners receives 10 books each year. The Scholastic Book Fairs allow students to select their own books to take home.

Donate: Help a child start building their home library

To celebrate 25 years since the first Harry Potter book’s publication in the U.S., Scholastic also donated 25,000 copies of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” to every third through eighth grade student in the Fund’s 78 partner schools. Schools distributed their books throughout the month of September as part of Scholastic’s 25th anniversary celebration. School libraries also received a new box set of the complete Harry Potter series.

“The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling is a modern classic that has ignited kids’ imagination for many years,” said Ellie Berger, president, Scholastic Trade. “We’re thrilled to join forces with the Scripps Howard Fund on this exciting national literacy initiative to bring ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’ to thousands of children in underserved schools and inspire a new generation to start their magical reading journey.”

Watch: Students receive free copies of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”

Last spring, author Dav Pilkey donated 25,000 copies of his book “Dog Man: Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea” to the Fund’s childhood literacy campaign.

With the two book donations, combined with the funds raised this year, the total number of books distributed since 2016 will surpass 1.25 million.

The Scripps Howard Fund invested more than $8.1 million in charitable gifts in 2022 for journalism education, childhood literacy and community giving.

To learn more and donate, visit IfYouGiveABook.com.

Media contact: Molly Miossi, The E.W. Scripps Company, 513-977-3713, [email protected]

About the Scripps Howard Fund
The Scripps Howard Fund is a public charity that supports philanthropic causes important to The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP) and the communities it serves, with a special emphasis on journalism education, excellence in journalism and childhood literacy. At the crossroads of the classroom and the newsroom, the Fund is a leader in supporting journalism through scholarships, internships, minority recruitment and development and First Amendment causes. The Scripps Howard Awards stand as one of the industry’s top honors for outstanding journalism, and the Fund’s annual “If You Give a Child a Book …” childhood literacy campaign has distributed thousands of new books to children in need across the nation. In support of its mission to create a better-informed world, the Fund also partners with Scripps brands to create awareness of local issues and support organizations that help build thriving communities. The Scripps Howard Foundation, an affiliated organization with the Scripps Howard Fund, supports Scripps’ charitable efforts through its endowment, key assets and major donations.