The Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City (Jason Hancock/Missouri Independent).
The Missouri Independent won 24 awards Saturday — including nine first place honors — in the annual Missouri Press Association Better Newspaper Contest.
The awards were handed out at the association’s annual convention, which this year was held in Springfield.
“Atomic Fallout” — a months-long collaboration between The Independent’s Allison Kite, the Associated Press and Muckrock investigating the threat of radioactive waste in the St. Louis region — won several awards Saturday.
Kite’s look at how the federal government downplayed health risks of the contamination despite knowing it posed a threat to people living near Coldwater Creek as early as 1949 was awarded first place honors for “best news story.”
The series also won second place for “best investigative reporting” and third place for “best story about history.”
Kite won second place for “best story about the outdoors” and “multimedia reporting” for her story alongside Rebecca Rivas about naturalists working to reestablish prairies in Missouri.
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Rivas was awarded second place for “best story about marginalized communities” for her look at the growth of Juneteenth events around the state and third place for “best news story” for an investigation into a Michigan company recruiting applicants on Craigslist for Missouri’s social-equity cannabis program.
Editor-in-chief Jason Hancock was awarded first place for “best story about government” for his investigation into House Speaker Dean Plocher illegally seeking taxpayer reimbursement from the legislature for airfare, hotels and other travel costs already paid for by his campaign.
Hancock received third place honors for “best election story” for his coverage of Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s decision to drop out of a lawsuit involving companies accused of operating illegal gambling devices after receiving money from PACs tied to their lobbyist. He also won third place for “best news series” for stories on the massive backlog of Sunshine Law requests in the attorney general’s office.
Deputy Editor Rudi Keller won first place for “best election story” for his look at how out-of-state donors fueled the candidacies of Republicans running for governor and attorney general. He also won third place for “best business story” for his coverage of the proliferation of potentially illegal gambling parlors around the state.
Clara Bates won first place for “best breaking news” for her story about the state deciding to forgo participating in a program that could have provided tens of millions of dollars in federal food aid to low-income families.
Bates also won first place for “best story about religion” for coverage of survivors of childhood sexual abuse at Christian boarding schools urging Missouri lawmakers to extend the statute of limitations to file civil suits. She won third place for “best story about government” for a story about proposed changes to how the state pays for at-home care for disabled Missourians.
Annelise Hanshaw was awarded first place for “best feature story” for her look at the choices facing families of transgender children following state lawmakers approving a ban on gender-affirming care.
Hanshaw took second place for “best health story” for coverage of transgender Missourians feeling duped by a legislative deal that led to health care providers ending all gender-affirming care. And her story on the Herzog Foundation working to become the national epicenter of the school-choice movement won a pair of third place honors: “best story about religion” and “best photo illustration.”
The first place prize for “best health story” went to Anna Spoerre for her coverage of Missourians experiencing infertility hoping lawmakers would eliminate a major hurdle for care.
Opinion writers for The Independent were also honored, with Janice Ellis taking home first place and Jeff Smith taking second place for “best serious columnist.”
The Independent was also awarded first place for “best online newspaper or website” and second place for “best headline writing.”
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