2024 Beat Reporting (Large Newsroom) Finalists
Alec MacGillis
ProPublica
Alec MacGillis – Education Reporting
- Skipping School: America’s Hidden Education Crisis
- Conservatives Go to War — Against Each Other — Over School Vouchers
- Private Schools, Public Money: School Leaders Are Pushing Parents to Exploit Voucher Programs
- The Unequal Effects of School Closings
Comments From the Judges:
“The stories are full of memorable people whose situations clearly illustrate the difficult issues at hand. The stories zero in on issues of equity and deftly describe the politics at play in education in 2024. This is real boots-on-the-ground reporting, even if the reporter works for a national outlet.”
“Alec’s fine reporting and nuanced writing expertly weaves human beings – from students to politicians – into the broad narratives of education in the country at this post-pandemic moment. He often has a fresh perspective and his approach isn’t preachy. His writing meanders, in a good way, veering off to give us deep history on a subject, often history I didn’t know.”
Mandy McLaren
The Boston Globe
Investigating Special Education
- ‘The system is rigged’: How Massachusetts school districts fail dyslexic students and their families
- ‘I want to scream, but I can’t.’ The hidden world of special education settlements in Mass.
- Secluding a child is supposed to be prohibited in Mass. schools. But parents say the practice is still in use.
- This Braintree teen hasn’t been to school a single day this year. Is a broken special education system to blame?
- Some Massachusetts students are so anxious, they’re missing school for months on end. What can schools do?
Comments From the Judges:
“Mandy delivered one riveting read after another in this package of stories, which individually and collectively are wonderful investigative and public service journalism. Mandy has a powerful writing style, always pulling the reader in from the first sentence. She couples beautiful writing with detailed, thorough reporting. She doesn’t just write about headphones. She writes about the pink headphones one of her story [subjects] wears.”
“This is the pinnacle of education beat reporting; nuanced, child- and family-centered storytelling, dogged use of public and family records, and fair use of responses from schools, districts, and the state. It’s clear this reporting took a long time, but also built on top of itself as the reporter developed deeper expertise.”
Hannah Natanson
The Washington Post
Conflicts in Education
- School turned him liberal. His mom loves Fox News.
- Business titans privately urged NYC mayor to use police on Columbia protesters, chats show
- School taught JD Vance to see a divided nation — and to use that division
- They quit liberal public schools. Now they teach kids to be anti-‘woke.’
- Students reported her for a lesson on race. Then she taught it again.
Comments From the Judges:
“Given the political climate we are in, I was invested from start to finish in the story about the mom and son with different political views. The writer clearly spent a lot of time talking to the mom and her son and gave readers insight into not just their views, but how they have changed as they tried to maintain a positive relationship.”
“There is something uniquely thrilling about Natanson’s work in [The] Washington Post. She chose to tackle the world of ideas, today’s fiery and divisive ideas unique to our time–who shapes those ideas, who is shaped by them, how those ideas are tearing our schools and families apart. It’s a courageous, imperative and difficult subject for a journalist to pull off.”
