Your favorite alt-weekly walked away with 10 Milwaukee Press Club awards, three of them gold. If you missed these stories the first time around, here’s your chance to take a look.
Former staff writer Allison Geyer took top place in the category of Best Explanatory Story or Series for “Facing UW's Racist Past: The campus reckons with KKK legacy.” Universities across the country have been wrestling with their historical records, in particular campus associations with racist groups. In her cover story, Geyer closely examined the controversial legacy of some of UW-Madison’s most famous benefactors and found a complicated story.
Bruce Murphy, one of our columnists, took home first prize in the Best Column category for his news columns. See here, here and here.
Jane Burns nabbed a gold for Best Personal Profile for her cover story on the editor of The Storm Lake Times. In “Meet Art Cullen: He’s the muckraking small-town journalist who nabbed a Pulitzer,” Burns talked to Cullen about his unlikely prize, the future of independent journalism and the changing face of rural America.
Isthmus also won a silver in the category of Best Multi-Story Coverage of a Single Feature Topic or Event for “The Arboretum issue” which, in addition to featuring stories about the center’s history, research and wildlife, was printed with one of four different cover images representing each of the seasons. Contributing writers included Catherine Capellaro, Judith Davidoff, Linda Falkenstein, Allison Geyer, Sean Kennedy and Joe Tarr.
Former intern Peter Coutu, who is now a reporter in Virginia, won silver for Best Investigative Story or Series for “Where the lawyers aren’t: Attorney shortage in rural Wisconsin compounds opioid crisis.” Coutu’s investigation looked at how people with addiction issues are unable to get into life-saving treatment programs because there aren’t enough lawyers to take these cases. Months after the story ran, a group of defendants from northern Wisconsin filed suit over funding and staffing problems in the state Public Defender's Office. The lawsuit brings up issues similar to those raised in Coutu's cover story, arguing that indigent defendants’ right to competent attorneys and a speedy trial has been violated.
Staff writer Dylan Brogan won a silver for Best Coverage of a Single News Topic or Event Including Breaking News for “I am not the jerk the nation thinks I am: Anonymous writer says drug house, not Sheila Stubbs, prompted police call.” In his piece, Brogan dug into news reports that someone had called the police on Stubbs, who was then campaigning door-to-door for state Assembly. He talked to neighbors, obtained the 911 audio, and identified the home where the call came from — to find that story was more nuanced and complicated than first reported, with no simplistic villains.
Allison Geyer nabbed a second award, a bronze, in the category of Best Long Soft Feature Story. In “Behind the scene: Independent record labels boost musicians in Madison” Geyer looked at Madison’s booming independent record labels.
We don’t do much in-depth sports coverage, but we had a special story this year from Alejandro Alonso Galva. In his “The future is female,” Alonso Galva profiled Robyn Wiseman, one of nine women to make the American Ultimate Disc League in 2018. She plays for the Madison Radicals. She is also a dedicated mentor for other female athletes.
Marc Eisen’s “UW's Challenge” won a bronze for Best Public Service Story or Series. His heavily sourced and researched pieces show how UW-Madison researchers struggle to partner with industry and to commercialize their research. Eisen examined how UW-Madison lost its way, what it's still doing right and how it might get back on track.
Bill Lueders won bronze for his colorful profile of Gov. Tommy Thompson, “The man from Elroy: New book reveals what makes Tommy Thompson tick,” which coincided with the release of the former governor’s new book. In addition to the narrative, Bill included a page of little- known fun facts about Tommy.
