THE 2020 FRONT PAGE AWARDS
During a year of twists and turns, great journalism has followed. Stories that speak truth to power, shed light for the American people and hold power to account.
The 83rd annual Front Page Awards, featuring several new categories -- including the Ida B. Wells award honoring coverage of communities of color -- pay tribute to exceptional newswomen at more than two dozen local, regional and national outlets across the New York metropolitan area. This year’s awards come during a time when the world has been pitted against a deadly virus that has taken the lives of more than 220,000 Americans. Among the winning work we are honoring this year is coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic from New York’s spring lockdown to the summer spike to the third wave making its way across the nation.
Also represented among this year’s award-winning work is a focus on a problem that has been endemic in America for 400 years: racial disparity. As the 82nd awards highlighted Nikole Hannah-Jones and The New York Times’ 1619 Project, winning work in this year's entries pay tribute to the journalists on the frontlines during a summer of unrest sparked by the Memorial Day murder of George Floyd. This award-winning reporting spotlighted police abuses against peaceful protestors, delved deep into America’s entrenched racism, and documented the unrest in the White House.
This reporting is a reminder that for every injustice committed, there is a newswoman ready to cover it with impartial ears and an open heart.
Scroll to the end of the page to watch the full awards ceremony.
The Front Page Award for Lifetime Achievement
The Front Page Award for Journalist of the Year
THE MARIE COLVIN FRONT PAGE AWARD FOR FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE
IDA B. WELLS AWARD: COVERAGE ON COMMUNITIES OF COLOR
THE MARTHA COMAN FRONT PAGE AWARD FOR BEST NEW JOURNALIST
AUDIO
Investigative Reporting
Jennifer Strong and Emma Cillekens, MIT Technology Review
"In Machines We Trust: An investigation into the rise of facial recognition technology in policing”
Feature
Colleen DeBaise, Sue Williams, Victoria Wang, Victoria Flexner, Corinne Lestch, Nusha Balyan, Christina Kelly, Noel Flego, The Story Exchange
DOCUMENTARY
LOCAL REPORTING
Breaking News
Monica Haider, CNN
“Fire devastates New York museum of Chinese American life”
Investigative Reporting
Phoebe Eaton, Air Mail
THE MAKING OF A PREDATOR: PART I THE WHY OF HARVEY WEINSTEIN
THE MAKING OF A PREDATOR: PART II BOB WEINSTEIN: BROTHER BETRAYER?
THE MAKING OF A PREDATOR PART III WEINSTEIN'S WIFE
Feature
Clarisa Diaz, Gothamist
“The Push To Turn NYC's Polluting Peaker Plants Into Publicly-Owned Solar Power”
MAGAZINES
Feature
Jamie Ducharme, TIME
Investigative Reporting
Rachel Aviv, The New Yorker
Essay
Molly Fischer, New York Magazine
Interview
Kayla Webley Adler, Elle
NEWSPAPERS
Beat Reporting
Vanessa Fuhrmans, Lauren Weber, Sarah Chaney, The Wall Street Journal
Overworked and Overlooked: The Many Career Challenges Women Continue to Face:
Breaking News
Jennifer Calfas, The Wall Street Journal
The Emerging Threat: Coronavirus:
Coronavirus Forces New Travel Curbs, Bans on Large Gatherings
U.S. Coronavirus Death Toll Climbs to Six as Virus Spreads World-Wide
Feature
Amy Padnani, Veronica Chambers, Anika Burgess, The New York Times
The Mrs. Files Series:
Investigative Reporting
Kashmir Hill, The New York Times
“The Secretive Company That Might End Privacy as We Know It”
"Before Clearview Became a Police Tool, It Was a Secret Plaything of the Rich"
"Clearview’s Facial Recognition App Is Identifying Child Victims of Abuse"
The Nellie Bly Award for Best Bylined Front Page Story
Shalini Ramachandran, Laura Kusisto, Katie Honan, The Wall Street Journal
“How New York’s Coronavirus Response Made the Pandemic Worse”
ONLINE
Breaking News
Victoria Bekiempis, The Guardian
“Ghislaine Maxwell appears in court charged with aiding Epstein's sex crimes”
“How Ghislaine Maxwell lived a 'life of privilege' on the run”
Blogs
Caroline Fairchild, LinkedIn News
Working Together: How women and working parents were impacted by the pandemic series
Multimedia News Package
Allison McCann, Simone Landon, Meghan Louttit, Destinée-Charisse Royal and Grace Maalouf, The New York Times
“N.Y.P.D. Says It Used Restraint During Protests. Here’s What the Videos Show.”
Digital Video
Kassie Bracken, Emily Rhyne, Sameen Amin, Solana Pyne, The New York Times
“‘Lord Have Mercy’: Inside One of New York’s Deadliest ZIP Codes”
Investigative Reporting
Tess Owen, VICE News
How the Boogaloo Boys Became a New Extremist Threat in America series:
Social Media Video
Madison Paglia, Bloomberg
“No water, no electric, surviving Covid-19 on the Navajo Reservation”
PHOTOGRAPHY
BEST CORONAVIUS PHOTO: Jeena Moon, Reuters
BREAKING NEWS: Jeenah Moon, “A NYPD police car is set on fire as protesters clash with police during a march against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd”
BEST PHOTO EDITING: Morrigan McCarthy, The New York Times “The Last Anointing”
FEATURE: Natalie Keyssar, TIME “We Do This for the Living.’ Inside New York’s Citywide Effort to Bury Its Dead”
Sports: Alejandra Villa Loarca, Newsday '
PHOTOGRAPHY ESSAY: Haruka Sakaguchi, TIME “‘I Will Not Stand Silent.’ 10 Asian Americans Reflect on Racism During the Pandemic and the Need for Equality”
SPECIALIZED REPORTING
Editorial/Opinion/Criticism
Deepti Hajela, The Associated Press
Personal Service
Julia Carpenter, Laura Saunders, Francesca Fontana, The Wall Street Journal
The New Rules of Money Series:
Business
Emily Flitter, The New York Times
Banking While Black Series:
“'Banking While Black: How Cashing a Check Can Be a Minefield”
“Black-Owned Businesses Could Face Hurdles in Federal Aid Program”
Education
Amy Zimmer, Christina Veiga, Gabrielle LaMarr LeMee, Chalkbeat
“How safe is the air inside your NYC classroom?”
"‘Can we be safe?’ Teachers worry the HVAC system at their Manhattan school poses dangers"
"Toilet paper on a stick? It’s just one way to test ventilation in NYC schools."
Medicine/Health/Fitness
Pam Belluck, The New York Times
Covid's Mysterious and Devastating Assault Series
“32 Days on a Ventilator: One Covid Patient’s Fight to Breathe Again”
"‘Straight Up Fire' in His Veins: Teen Battles New Covid Syndrome”
“‘They Want to Kill Me’: Many Patients Have Terrifying Delirium”
Politics
Ashley Parrish, Dana Haller, Alicia Menendez, Shalini Sharma, Charisse Larado, Christine Nguyen, Heather Seidel, NBC
Power of Women: The Changing Faces of American Politics Series:
“Why Trump’s fantasy of the American suburb doesn’t exist anymore”
“The year of firsts: Who are the women making history on the ballot in 2020?”
“America failed Ferraro and Palin. What can their VP campaigns teach us about sexism?
Sports
Stephania Bell, ESPN
TELEVISION
Feature
Emily Kassie, PBS Frontline and The Marshall Project
“Undocumented in the Pandemic”
Special Programming (Public Affairs or Editorial)
Kaitlin Purcia, Christine Kim, Barri Lazar-Aarons, Yvette Miley, Omnika Thompson, MSNBC
Breaking News
Stephanie Brumsey, Raelyn Johnson, Christine Kim, Yelda Altalef, Yvette Miley, Omnika Thompson, MSNBC
“The legacy of John Lewis”
Special Reporting (Investigative or Enterprise Reporting)
Dana Bash, Nelli Black, Bridget Nolan, Patricia DiCarlo, Samira Jafari, CNN
“CNN Investigates Dr. Hadden”
Interview
Terry Hurlbutt, Deborah Roberts, Jessica Naudziunas, Sabina Ghebremedhin, Brittany Berkowitz, Lauren Sher, Caterina Andreano, Tina Xiao, Julia Horowitz, Dara Elasfar, ABC NEWS
“Their Painful Bond- Black Mothers Speak Out Together on Their Unimaginable Loss”
WIRES
Breaking/Spot News
Sabrina Willmer, Bloomberg
“Billionaire Fisher Shocks With Sexual Remarks, Wonders Why”
Feature
Jennifer Peltz, Associated Press
“'Still scared': Health workers feel the toll of virus fight”
Investigative Reporting
Suzanne Barlyn, Reuters
“U.S. university insured Chinese student tuition against virus. Then COVID-19 hit”
Beat Reporting
Gabriella Borter, Reuters
“A nurse struggled with COVID-19 trauma. He was found dead in his car.”
“Mourning a 'supermom': U.S. health worker casualties mount in virus fight.”
“U.S. nurses who can't get tested fear they are spreading COVID-19.”
“’I’m never going to be the same’: Medics grapple with mental trauma on COVID-19 front line.”
“On next COVID-19 front line, nurse tends to discharged patients at home.”