2019 Single-Topic News (Medium Staff) Finalist: Stephanie Zimmermann

About the Entry

Stephanie Zimmermann’s eye-opening reporting on military families who shockingly learned that their GI Bill educational benefits were canceled due to a bureaucratic error prompted outrage from readers, veterans, and members of Congress.

Comments from the Judges

“These articles took what could have been a dry and obscure issue and brought it fully to life. And best of all, it got results and reforms. These military families were helped by these articles. Solid journalism with a cause.”

“This story gutted me. When someone is given poor guidance by the service member’s military branch, the attitude often is ‘tough luck.’ Kudos to Zimmermann for going deep on this story and getting to the bottom of what is essentially a human error that wreaked so much havoc and misfortune in what could be hundreds of military families.”