2025 Beat Reporting (Small Newsroom) Finalists
Becky Z. Dernbach
Sahan Journal
Education in Minnesota’s Communities of Color
- They came to the U.S. to attend middle school. Then the immigration crackdown began.
- ‘It’s a complete wrench’: St. Thomas, UMN lose teacher training grants due to Trump DEI cuts
- Harvest Best names interim leader, as parents push back over firing of founder
- From space robots to malaria vaccines, federal cuts upend research, academic careers at the University of Minnesota
- ‘We’ve been made invisible’: Hmong parents call for student stay-home day to demand action from St. Paul Public Schools
Comments From the Judges:
“This reporter produced thorough and well-sourced stories on a range of issues facing immigrant students, their families and their educators. Her stories feel fresh and enterprising with good quotes from a number of key people — many of whom are from groups not often quoted in other coverage. I especially liked her lengthy piece about Andersen United Middle School, which serves newcomers, and some of the students, families and teachers there. These vivid and personal stories shed necessary light on headline news.”
“Dernbach’s stories provide immense insight into the very real lives of students and educators in Minnesota’s schools, with poignant, gripping narratives and clear consequences of federal laws and policies. I appreciated the various ways she provided visuals to readers and the depth she brought to reporting on individuals, which was both gripping and helped show what’s at stake for these schools and kids. Many of the stories I read are angles or topics that I have not seen covered to that depth and add important narratives to local news.”
Natalie La Roche Pietri
WLRN Public Media
Natalie La Roche Pietri Package
- ‘We want our neighborhood school’: Pushback as Broward shutters decades-old elementary
- Florida rapidly expanded publicly-funded school vouchers. Two years later, students are lost in the mix
- As lawmakers fix Florida’s school voucher system, educators, students cope with financial fallout
- ‘A parallel system’: Miami-Dade school district to be cut out of decisions about charter schools
- Florida adopts new teaching standards on history of communism in schools
Comments From the Judges:
“La Roche Pietri’s pieces were thoughtful, compelling and deeply reported. She was extremely adept at tackling complex education policies and helping readers understand why and how those policies would affect their families. Her work is a true example of accountability journalism for her community and she has impressive impact to show for it: keeping pressure on politicians to make sure faulty systems are fixed, getting money owed to special education students in the hands of their parents and bringing attention to curriculum changes that parents may not otherwise be aware of.”
“The reporting demonstrates a dogged dedication to seeking answers about changes in Florida’s voucher system and furthermore connects the issues in the state-level programs to real, on-the-ground impacts for schools and families. The stories show a deftness in navigating the connection between local and state policies, and in providing important context for readers seeking to understand complex systems. The reporting also shows the reporting range, including investigating the effectiveness of state-level programs and analyzing the local pain of a school closure.”
Asher Lehrer-Small
Houston Landing
Accountability Coverage of Houston’s State Takeover
- HISD leaders failed to get board approval for up to $870 million in spending, records show
- From minimal English to class valedictorian: Half of top HISD grads start as English learners
- HISD found an employee sent a lewd video to a student. Parents were left in the dark.
- HISD slashed staff helping students in need. Are kids ‘slipping through the cracks?’
- Exclusive: HISD audits detail depth of special education dysfunction, signs of improvement
Comments From the Judges:
“Fantastic beat reporting. The reporter digs deeper and finds the real stories. I love this story about how children who enter school as non-native English speakers are more likely than their classmates to become high school valedictorians. What a gem of a story. No one else is telling that story unless you dig into the data. I’m impressed by the straightforward writing, the use of public records and the reporter’s ability to put a face on issues (like wraparound specialists losing their jobs, how it affects families.)”
“This reporter demonstrated extraordinary tenacity in digging up the details of dysfunction and perhaps deceptions in the operations of the district being taken over by the state — leaders spending hundreds of millions of dollars without board approval and wraparound services for vulnerable students being lost as district leaders claimed they were improving programs. Most impressive is the reporter’s doggedness in making sure he broke the story — the day before his publication shuttered– of a teacher sending a lewd video to a student despite the district’s desire to keep the information confidential.”
