2020 MNA Better Newspaper Contest

Investigative Reporting ( 1,501 to 3,000,1,001 - 1,500,Under 1,000)Back

  • Place Name: First Place
    Contestant Name: Cloquet - Pine Journal
    Entry Title: Carlton strangled by rival school districts
    Entry Credit: Jamey Malcomb
    Judge Comment: This is great! You took a very complicated issue and explained it so well. You took the time to dive into the numbers, yet you still kept it digestible. Often in local investigative pieces there is an abundance of information thrown in to show the extent of the research, but doing the hard work and making it look easy is also an important part of journalism. I also love that you included a list of all the upcoming meetings, and that you reported about this in a factual way. It could easily have been more sensationalized, but you left out the drama to tell a story that doesn't even need the drama to be good. Thank you!
  • Place Name: Second Place
    Contestant Name: Cloquet - Pine Knot News
    Entry Title: Officer's conduct revealed
    Entry Credit: Jana Peterson
    Judge Comment: This is an important topic. Kudos to you for taking on the challenge.
  • Place Name: Third Place
    Contestant Name: Tower - The Timberjay
    Entry Title: Analysis: Township's concerns over transfers justified
    Entry Credit: Marshall Helmberger
    Judge Comment: This is a very specific kind of story that I think helps people to look at situations through multiple perspectives. In local government there are so many decisions that get made without a deeper dive into them. My first impression, when reading this, is that the reporter was spending an awful lot of time obsessing over a rather small kind of decision in the context of a city's budget. Like of all the things going on in the world there's this concern over mileage and shared expenses on ambulances? But yet, if you think about it, shouldn't every decision made by city administrators be done with that kind of attention to detail and eye for saving money? Maybe a reporter can't dive deep in checking every decision, but maybe if they do it enough it will push the city to operate that way. So, for that, good job!
  • Competition Comment: None