Journalists’ work for The Lund Report was recognized with four awards in the regional 2022 Society of Professional Journalists Northwest Excellence in Journalism Contest, which featured entries from Oregon, Alaska, Idaho, Montana and Washington.
Then-Legislative Reporter Ben Botkin’s article looking at Oregon’s alone-in-the-nation barriers to kids getting needed health care services, Oregon faces scrutiny over one-of-a-kind hurdles to children’s health care, received two first-place awards, in health reporting and government/politics reporting, as well as second-place award in investigative reporting, all in the small outlets category.
The article spurred a reversal of an increasingly controversial 28-year-old state practice within weeks of its publication. Public records later confirmed that the article caused a meeting in which then-Gov. Kate Brown’s staff joined with top state health officials to discuss a five-page, point-by-point analysis of The Lund Report’s work in order to determine the program’s future.
An article by Managing Editor Emily Green, meanwhile, was recognized with first place in the hard news feature writing category. That article, Rewards for staying in drug treatment work, now Oregon is poised to pay for them, took a look at a proven but rarely used method employed to treat addiction to meth and other drugs. An audio version of the article narrated by Green, featuring the patients and providers she spoke with, was co-produced with Oregon Public Broadcasting, and can be found here.
