Press Release
WASHINGTON, Oct. 25 – Military Reporters & Editors today announced the winners of the annual MRE Journalism Contest Awards. Reporters from Military.com, Vanity Fair, the Texas Tribune and Military Times are among the winners.
“The Military Reporters & Editors Awards honor the very best in military journalism,” MRE President Howard Altman said. “It was inspiring to read and watch and listen to exceptional reporting. These journalists tackled difficult subjects such as the correlation between traumatic brain injury and suicide, service members unable to seek justice for medical malpractice and the repercussions of an overwhelmed National Guard presence at the U.S. southern border.”
The Joe Galloway Award goes to Patricia Kime and Rebecca Kheel of Military.com for their three-part series on traumatic brain injuries and their connection to suicide, which offered new evidence confirming the correlation. The judges said the reporters “deftly trace both the rise of military suicide and traumatic brain injuries over the past two decades and lay out the latest scientific evidence that connects them. The reporters also included powerful personal narratives of veteran and families directly affected, bringing the issues to life in vivid detail.”
Maximillian Potter, Vanity Fair, is the recipient of the James Crawley Award for his piece “Incident to Service” that examines the Feres doctrine, which prevents service members from suing the military for medical malpractice if they were seriously injured or killed due to medical mistakes. The judges called his work “a chilling, damning look.”
For a series on Texas-Mexico border operations problems, James Barragan of the Texas Tribune and Davis Winkie of Military Times are the winners of the award covering domestic military or national defense for large market newspapers, online or magazines.
And Gabriel Pietrorazio of the War Horse is the recipient of the domestic military or national defense award for small market publications for his coverage of how the history of the Wounded Knee Massacre tarnished the integrity of medal of honor recipients.
A complete list of award winners is below.
Military Reporters & Editors thank the judges who are from the Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University: Ellen Shearer, Professor Emerita, Matthew Orr, Assistant Professor, Storer H. (Bob) Rowley, Adjunct Lecturer, and Ivan Meyers, Senior Lecturer.
Winners
The Joe Galloway Award
Patricia Kime and Rebecca Kheel from Military.com – “Three-part series on traumatic brain injuries and their connection to suicide”
The James Crawley Award
Maximillian Potter from Vanity Fair – “Incident to Service”
Domestic military or national defense coverage for large market newspapers, online or magazines
James Barragan from the Texas Tribune and Davis Winkie from Military Times – “Series on Texas-Mexico border operations problems”
Domestic military or national defense coverage for small market newspapers, online or magazines
Gabriel Pietrorazio from The War Horse – “Wounded Knee Massacre ‘Tarnishes’ Integrity of Medal of Honor”
Overseas coverage for large newspapers, online or magazines
Lynzy Billing from ProPublica – “The Night Raids”
Overseas coverage for small newspapers, online or magazines
Alison Bath from Stars and Stripes – “Sexism and the SOFA: How a 71-year-old US military treaty and Italy’s rules derail women’s careers”
Television – Large market
Samantha Manning from WSB-TV – “Privatized Military Housing Investigation”
Television – Small Market
Marie Waxel from WAAY 31 – “A look at Redstone’s role in supporting Ukraine”
Honorable mention – Marie Waxel and Tim Collins of WAAY 31 – “Doomsday Plane provides power in the sky”
Radio
Carson Frame from Texas Public Radio / American Homefront Project – “Inconsistent military domestic violence policies allow troops with criminal histories to buy guns”
Honorable mention – Jay Price from North Carolina Public Radio WUNC / American Homefront Project – “America’s first Black Marine base is threatened by the effects of climate change”
Commentary
Dan Grazier
The awards ceremony will be held at the MRE Conference on Friday, Oct. 27 at 5 p.m. at the Medill School of Journalism’s Washington Newsroom, 1301 K Street, NW, Suite 200 West, Washington, DC 20005.
About Military Reporters & Editors | MRE
Military Reporters & Editors is the leading organization for U.S. journalists covering national security. MRE provides resources, support, and networking opportunities for its members, fostering excellence in journalism and promoting public understanding of military, homeland defense and national security affairs.
Contact: Howard Altman, MRE president. news@militaryreporters.org