Colorado Newsline wins 15 awards in Society of Professional Journalists contest

Colorado Newsline took home 15 awards, including nine for first place, during a Society of Professional Journalists Colorado Pro Chapter reception on Saturday.

The chapter’s 2022 Top of the Rockies journalism contest included 75 outlets and freelancers from Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico.

Newsline, which launched in July 2020 and is based in Denver, competed in the contest’s small newsroom category. Its haul of awards included wins for every staff journalist who has ever worked for Newsline, including a former reporter and the outlet’s current reporting intern. The outlet swept the news column category.

Results were announced during a reception at the Denver Press Club. SPJ organizers said the contest included 1,507 entries, which represented an increase of 15% over the previous year’s contest.

“Top of the Rockies showcases the best in journalism from 2021, and it is evident that journalists in the four-state region are doing excellent work,” Deb Hurley Brobst, the contest coordinator, said in a statement. 

This is what Newsline’s journalists won:

Moe Clark, former reporter

First place, beat reporting, for Colorado housing and homelessness coverage, such as “Colorado’s housing crisis touches every inch of the state. Lawmakers hope $400 million will help.” and “Every week for a year, this group has provided water and trash services to Denver’s unhoused”

First place, best solutions journalism, for “Colorado’s Second Chance Center is redefining what success looks like after incarceration”

First place, features: short form, for “Meet the social worker flooding the Denver jail with books during the pandemic”

Julia Fennell, intern

First place, science and technology: news, for “Human composting is coming to Denver“

Third place, politics: feature, for “Boebert’s sole Republican challenger wants a return to ‘ethical representation’”

Faith Miller, reporter

First place, news reporting — single story, for “Post-Trump, refugee resettlement agencies ramp up services”

Sara Wilson, reporter

Second place, politics: news, for “Tina Peters was barred from overseeing the November election. What happens next?”

Third place, general reporting — series or package, for “Colorado’s sanctuary seekers are still stuck in limbo”

Chase Woodruff, senior reporter

First place, ag and environment: news, for “As Biden’s BLM pick awaits confirmation, its Grand Junction headquarters sit empty”

First place, general reporting — series or package, for “Smokescreen”

First place, legal: news, for “Former Colorado GOP chair accused of stealing $280K from pro-Trump super PAC”

Second place, climate reporting, for “Republicans called Colorado’s just-transition office for coal workers ‘Orwellian.’ Now they want to boost its funding.”

Quentin Young, editor

First place, news column, for “The most important speech of Boebert’s life”

Second place, news column, for “Colorado’s top 10 most dangerous election deniers”

Third place, news column, for “RTD betrayed taxpayers on FasTracks”

The reception featured a journalist of the year award for Larry Ryckman, editor of The Colorado Sun, and a Keeper of the Flame award for Betsy Marston, editor of Writers on the Range and former editor of High Country News.

Colorado Newsline is part of States Newsroom, a network of news outlets in states throughout the country that cover politics and policy.