The Deadline Club's 2023 Awards Finalists

Here are the finalists that were selected from 550 entries to the Deadline Club’s 2023 Awards Contest, listed in alphabetical order within each of 36 categories. Winners will be announced at the Club’s annual Awards Dinner on Thursday, May 18 at the Harvard Club. Learn more about the event here.

Fill out this form to indicate your interest in receiving a Deadline Club Awards finalist certificate. If you have any questions, reach out to awards@deadlineclub.org.

Link: https://bit.ly/DeadlineFinalist

1. The Daniel Pearl Award for Investigative Reporting
  • The Associated Press “Afghan Couple Accuse U.S. Marine of Abducting Their Baby” Juliet Linderman, Claire Galofaro, Martha Mendoza
  • Reuters “America’s Throwaway Spies: How the CIA failed Iranian informants in its secret war with Tehran” Joel Schectman, Bozorgmehr Sharafedin
  • Reuters “Going for Broke” Dan Levine, Mike Spector, Benjamin Lesser, Kristina Cooke, Disha Raychaudhuri
2. Newspaper or Digital Beat Reporting
  • The Hechinger Report “How Higher Education Lost its Shine” Jon Marcus 
  • The Intercept “Documenting the Death Penalty” Liliana Segura, Jordan Smith
  • POLITICO “The Adams Administration” Sally Goldenberg, Joe Anuta
3. Newspaper or Digital Feature Reporting
  • Inside Climate News “Food Shocks: Climate Change and the Coming Famines” Georgina Gustin
  • The Wall Street Journal “The Bravery and Recklessness of Ukraine’s Improvised Army” James Marson
  • The Wall Street Journal “Inside the Secret Prisoner Swap That Splintered the U.S. and China” Drew Hinshaw, Joe Parkinson, Aruna Viswanatha
4. Newspaper or Digital Spot News Reporting
  • The Associated Press “Author Salman Rushdie stabbed on lecture stage in New York” Joshua Goodman
  • THE CITY “Deadly Bronx Blaze Prompts Scrutiny of Open Door That Spread Smoke” Claudia Irizarry-Aponte, Greg Smith
5. Newspaper or Digital Enterprise Reporting
  • Reuters “Going for Broke” Dan Levine, Mike Spector, Benjamin Lesser, Kristina Cooke, Disha Raychaudhuri
  • Reuters “Undocumented and Underage” Joshua Schneyer, Mica Rosenberg, Kristina Cooke
  • VICE World News “Imprisoned, Beaten Tased: The Trafficking Victims Being Forced to Scam the World” Alastair McCready, Koh Ewe, Gavin Butler
6. Newspaper or Digital Local News Reporting
  • Chalkbeat “NYC’s Literacy Overhaul” Alex Zimmerman
  • Daily Beast “The Inside Story of How the NYPD Cracked the Michael K. Williams Overdose Case” Michael Daly
  • The New York Times “He Runs a New York Real Estate Empire. Did He Steal It?” Stefanos Chen, Ted Clifford, Camellia Burris
7. Reporting by Newspapers with a Circulation under 100,000
  • The Highlands Current “Trails (Too) Well Traveled, Parts 1, 3 and 4” Brian PJ Cronin
  • The Highlands Current “The Challenge for Churches, Parts 1-3” Brian PJ Cronin
  • The Journal News/Lohud.com “After a stillbirth, NY families have little to no safety net. Now they’re demanding change” Diana Dombrowski, Tania Savayan
8. Reporting by Independent Digital Media
  • THE CITY and ProPublica “Crisis Point: How New York Wrecked Mental Health Care for Kids” Abigail Kramer
  • Daily Beast “Herschel Walker Investigation” Roger Sollenberger
  • NYCity News Service “When Home is School” Griffin Kelly, Sophia Lebowitz, Keith Paul Medelis, Harry Parker, Mary Steffenhagen
9. Magazine Personal Service
  • Consumer Reports “Lead and Cadmium Could Be in Your Dark Chocolate” Tunde Akinleye, Kevin Loria, Trisha Calvo, Andy Bergmann, Sarah Goralski
  • Newsday “Finding Your Own Italy on Long Island” Corin Hirsch, Erica Marcus, Scott Vogel
10. Magazine Profile
  • Bloomberg Businessweek “Larry Ellison’s Lanai Isn’t for You-or the People Who Live There” Sophie Alexander
  • Esquire “The Follower” David Gauvey Herbert
  • Mother Jones “Blake Masters Is Peter Thiel’s Dream Candidate-and a Total Nightmare for Democracy” Noah Lanard
11. Magazine Investigative Reporting
  • Bloomberg Businessweek “TikTok Troubles” Olivia Carville
  • Bloomberg News “Cocaine Express” Lauren Etter, Michael Riley, Matthew Bristow, Vernon Silver, Patricia Laya
  • Consumer Reports “The Dangerous Chemicals in Your Fast Food Wrappers & Cookware” Kevin Loria, Andy Bergmann, Lauren Friedman, Tunde Akinleye, Wendy Greenfield
12. Magazine Feature Reporting
  • Rolling Stone (the Truth Seekers special issue, August 2022) “The Trafficking of Jose Alfaro” Abigail Pesta
  • The Washington Post “The Finer Things: My family poured love and joy into entertaining. Now it’s my turn” Alexis E. Barton
  • Wired Magazine “The Hunt for the Dark Web’s Biggest Kingpin” Andy Greenberg
13. Arts Reporting
  • Air Mail “Under the Influence: Jumi Bello Was on Track to Be a Major Writer — Until Her Debut Novel Was Dropped Amid Rumors of Plagiarism” Johanna Berkman, Alessandra Stanley, Graydon Carter, Ash Carter
  • The Forward “Can an all-Mormon cast pull off ‘Fiddler on the Roof'” Mira Fox
  • The New York Times “They Translated ‘Hamilton’ Into German. Was It Easy? Nein.” Michael Paulson
14. Business Feature
  • Bustle “Last Girlboss Standing” Courtney Rubin, Kat Stoeffel, Charlotte Owen
  • Fortune “Private equity is the biggest player in a booming autism-therapy industry. Some therapists say the ‘money grab’ is hurting the quality of care” Erika Fry
  • Wired Magazine “The Crypto Trap: Inside the Bitcoin Bust That Took Down the Web’s Biggest Child Abuse Site” Andy Greenberg
15. Business Investigative Reporting
  • NBC News, ICIJ, ARIJ and The Washington Post “The Pentagon knows contractors for overseas bases have engaged extensively in trafficking workers despite ‘zero tolerance.’ The punishment: more contracts.” Andrew Lehren, Molly Boigon, Anna Schecter, Katie McQue, Courtney Kube
  • Reuters “Going for Broke” Dan Levine, Mike Spector, Benjamin Lesser, Kristina Cooke, Disha Raychaudhuri
  • The Wall Street Journal “Uncontrolled Substances” Rolfe Winkler, Khadeeja Safdar, Andrea Fuller
16. Opinion Writing
  • Charter in partnership with TIME “S. Mitra Kalita’s columns” (“A Better Version of Capitalism Starts With Board Diversity,” “Now Is the Time to Push Companies on Abortion,” “How the Pandemic Made ‘Caregiver’ the Newest Workplace Identity”) S. Mitra Kalita
  • Oprah Daily “When Debt Feels Like Home” Carmen Cusido
  • Rolling Stone “There Are Lots of Jews in Hollywood. Let a Rabbi Explain Why” Jay Michaelson
17. Science, Technology, Medical or Environmental Reporting
  • The Associated Press “Tracked” AP Staff
  • Bloomberg News “Hopped Up” Polly Mosendz, Caleb Melby, Gillian Tan
  • THE CITY and ProPublica “Crisis Point: How New York Wrecked Mental Health Care for Kids” Abigail Kramer
18. Sports Reporting
  • ESPN “Investigation of the U.S. Center for SafeSport” Dan Murphy, Pete Madden, John Mastroberardino, Tracy Wholf, Kate Holland
  • The New York Times “The Keeper” Juliet Macur
  • The Star-Ledger “Camden celebrates a hoops rebirth. But critics wonder: Did they cheat their way to a championship?” Kevin Armstrong
19. Spot News Photo
  • The Associated Press “Evacuation in Ukraine” Evgeniy Maloletka
  • Newsday “Funeral for FDNY firefighter Jesse Gerhard” Alejandra Villa Loarca
  • Newsday “Grief in the Bronx” J. Conrad Williams Jr.
20. Feature Photo
  • CNN “I Just Wanna Surf” Gabriella Angotti-Jones, Leah Asmelash, Will Lanzoni, Austin Steele, Brett Roegiers
  • CNN “Little Black Boy” Rashod Taylor, Nicquel Terry Ellis, Laura Oliverio, Will Lanzoni, Brett Roegiers
  • CNN “Battling Obesity – and Telling Bullies to ‘Kiss It!” Trayler-Smith, Kyle Almond, Brett Roegiers
21. Sports Photo
  • The Associated Press “Freestyle” Matt Slocum
  • Newsday “Agony and Ecstasy” Thomas A. Ferrara
  • Newsday “Portrait of Long Beach Middle School wrestler Dunia Sibomana” Thomas A. Ferrara
22. Multimedia, Interactive Graphics and Animation
  • CNN “How Iran’s security forces use rape to quell protests” CNN staff
  • The New York Times “A Culture in the Cross Hairs” Jason Farago, Sarah Kerr, Ainara Tiefenthäler, Haley Willis
  • The New York Times “The Visions of Octavia Butler” The Staff of The New York Times
23. Digital Innovation
  • Bloomberg News “The Post-Roe Information Crisis” Bloomberg staff
  • News 12 Networks “Twin Parks Tragedy” Frank Pokorney, Chris R. Vaccaro, News 12 staff
  • The Wall Street Journal “Inflation Tracker” Bourree Lam, Brian Whitton, Vivyan Tran, Dion Rabouin
24. Radio or Audio Spot News Reporting
  • Bloomberg “Russia Invades Ukraine: Live Coverage at 5 am on 2/24/22” Nathan Hager, Karen Moskow, Richard Trueman, Ken Feliu, Caroline Hepker
25. Radio or Audio Feature Reporting 
  • The Intercept “No Way Home” Summia Tora, Mir Abdullah Miri, Maryam Barak, Laura Flynn, Vanessa Gezari
  • NBC News “Truthers: Tiffany Dover Is Dead” Brandy Zadrozny, Reid Cherlin, Frannie Kelley, Eva Ruth Moravec, Madeleine Haeringer
  • The Wall Street Journal and Gimlet Media “How to Build a Metaverse” Annie Minoff, Joshua Sanburn, Alan Rodriguez Espinoza, Griffin Tanner, Brendan Klinkenberg
26. Radio or Audio Investigative Reporting
  • C13Originals and Team Downey “The Sunshine Place” Chris Corcoran, Robert Downey Jr., Susan Downey, Emily Barclay Ford, Josh McLaughlin
  • NPR “Easy Money: An NPR Investigation / How the Paycheck Protection Program went from good intentions to a huge free-for-all” Sacha Pfeiffer, Austin Fast, Barrie Hardymon, Meg Anderson, Sierra Lyons
  • NYCity News Service “Home Ed: An Investigative Podcast” Mary Steffenhagen
27. Digital Video Reporting
  • NBC News Digital “Dear Noah: Pages from a Family Diary” Matt Kwiecinski, Christine Nguyen, Tate James, Ernesto Guadalupe
  • The Wall Street Journal “How Russia Stole Ukraine’s Grain” Wall Street Journal Staff
  • The Trace “The Return of the Machine Gun” Alain Stephens, Keegan Hamilton
28. Local Television Spot News Reporting
  • Pix11 News “Cabbie Jumps Curb” Jennifer Bisram, Shashi Sharma
  • Spectrum News NY1 “Deadly Fire in The Bronx” Spectrum News NY1 Staff
  • Spectrum News NY1 “Terror Underground” Spectrum News NY1 Staff
29. Local Television Feature
  • Spectrum News NY1 “Brooklyn United Marching Band” Dan Keese
  • WPIX “People Need To See Others That Look Like Them” Darren McQuade
  • WPIX “People Call Me The Heart Lady” Darren McQuade
30. Local Television Series or Investigative Reporting
  • News 12 Network “Playing With Fire” Tara Rosenblum, Alan Flamenhaft, Scott McGee, Jean Salzarulo, James DiGregorio, Audrey Gruber, Scott Cohen and Frank Bruce
  • News 12 New Jersey “N12 Originals: Justice Delayed” Walt Kane, Karin Attonito, Anthony Cocco, Jessica Frech, Audrey Gruber, Steven Larger, Ryan Beckman and Michael Roberts
  • WABC-TV “Missing” Kristin Thorne, Stephen Cioffi, Emily Hartmann, Rolando Pujol

31. National Television Spot News Reporting

  • CBS News 60 Minutes “After Ian” Bill Whitaker, Graham Messick, Marc Lieberman, Craig Crawford, Jack Weingart, Cassidy McDonald, LaCrai Mitchell
  • NBC News/MSNBC “Richard Engel’s continuing coverage of the War in Ukraine” Richard Engel, NBC News staff, On Assignment with Richard Engel staff
  • NBC News/MSNBC “Hurricane Ian” NBC News/MSNBC staff
32. National Television Feature
  • CBS Sunday Morning “Top Secret” Rand Morrison, Amy Rosner, David Martin, Mary Walsh, Lauren Barnello
  • CBS Sunday Morning “Finders Keepers” Martha Teichner, Michelle Kessel, Remington Korper
  • NBC News “Richard Engel Reports: Ukraine’s Vilshany Orphanage” Richard Engel, TODAY Show staff , NBC News staff , On Assignment with Richard Engel staff
33. National Television Series or Investigative Reporting
  • ABC News “Caffeine Jungle” staff of Impact X Nightline
  • ABC News “Poisoned: America’s Fentanyl Crisis” ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis
  • NBC News NOW “Ukraine: A Mother’s War” Molly Hunter, Nick Lerman, Geraldine Cols Azocar, Janelle Rodriguez
34. The Mosaic Award
  • CBS Sunday Morning “American Tragedy?” Erin Moriarty, Sari Aviv, George Pozderec, Rand Morrison
  • NBC News/MSNBC “Into America: Pride and the Bible Belt” Into America team, Aisha Turner, Trymaine Lee
  • Spectrum News “USA1C: Fighting the Rise of Diabetes” Erin Billups, Errol Louis, Zoe Slemmons, Colleen McKown, Digital Video Production Team
35. The Les Payne Award for Coverage on Communities of Color
  • Bloomberg News “Mortgage Inequality” Shawn Donnan, Ann Choi, Hannah Levitt, Christopher Cannon
  • Documented “New York City’s Migration Crisis” Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio, Rommel Ojeda
  • NBC News “The Reckoning: An American Genocide” Lisa Cavazuti, Cynthia McFadden, Maite Amorebieta, Yasmine Salam, Rich Schapiro, Eric Pfriender, Ray Farmer
36. Public Service Award
  • CNN “Unraveling Uvalde” Shimon Prokupecz, Matthew J. Friedman, Leonel Mendez, Rachel Clarke
  • Cosmopolitan Magazine “It’s Not Over” The Cosmopolitan Staff
  • The New York Times “How Hasidic Schools are Reaping Millions but Failing Students” Eliza Shapiro, Brian M. Rosenthal

The Deadline Club thanks all those who entered the 2023 annual Awards Contest and encourages all journalists to keep up the exceptional work.

Questions or comments: awards@deadlineclub.org