Kelsey Baker awarded prize by Military Reporters & Editors
WASHINGTON — During its annual conference for journalists, Military Reporters & Editors presented awards to the winners of the 2025 MRE Journalism Contest. Contest judges singled out Kelsey Baker to receive MRE’s Best Enterprise/Feature Reporting (Division 1) award for work published by The Washington Post. Contest judges also noted the accompanying photography by Post photojournalist Matt McClain.
Award Summary
“What’s to become of the keepsakes left at Arlington Cemetery?” The Washington Post, published 5/27/2024
Prize Category: Best Enterprise-Feature Reporting / Division 1,Text journalism published in traditional print or online media.
Best work on a single topic containing numerous voices, creativity, and sources of information/data, or focused reporting that provides deeper context into a subject, in contrast to a typical news story, published by news organization with more than 20 reporters.
Judges’ Comments:
Kelsey Baker’s story for the Washington Post about the mementos left behind at Arlington Cemetery powerfully memorializes the military personnel lost during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and during counterterrorism missions elsewhere. She draws attention to the dilemma of how or whether to preserve some of the 3,250 mementos left behind over 15 years at the cemetery’s Section 60. With well-crafted stories about the keepsakes, she amplifies concerns about the need for a plan to archive and safeguard the quilts, plaques, photographs, patches and pins — and even a football helmet and Nintendo Game Boy. Photographer Matt McClain’s photographs help bring to life the historical significance of the collection.
Read the Winning Article
- What’s to become of the keepsakes left at Arlington Cemetery? The Washington Post (5/27/2024)
Journalist Biography
Kelsey Baker
Kelsey Baker is a military affairs reporter at Business Insider. Before joining Business Insider, she was a Military Veterans in Journalism Fellow at The Washington in 2024.
She graduated from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism in 2024 and previously worked as an intern at “The Chronicle of the Horse” magazine. She is a member of the Marine Corps Reserve and served six years as an active-duty Marine Corps logistics officer.
Matt McClain
Matt McClain is a staff photojournalist at The Washington Post. Before joining The Post, he was a staff photographer at the Ventura County Star in Ventura, Calif., and the Rocky Mountain News in Denver. During his time as a photographer, McClain has covered a wide-range assignments, including President Ronald Reagan’s funeral, the 2004 Asian tsunami, the 2008 Democratic National Convention, two presidential inaugurations and most recently the earthquake in Nepal.
His work has been recognized by World Press Photo, Pictures of the Year International, NPPA Best of Photojournalism, Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar, and Scripps Howard Foundation National Journalism Award for Photojournalism. McClain was born and raised in
Indiana.