The Inquirer won an award for its coverage of the Philly mayor’s race. Read the winning stories.
Inquirer reporters received a prestigious journalism award for coverage of Mayor Parker’s campaign
Five Philadelphia Inquirer reporters were recognized Monday by Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications with a prestigious national award for their coverage of Philadelphia’s 100th mayoral race.
At an awards ceremony in Washington, reporters Anna Orso, Sean Walsh, Julia Terruso, Aseem Shukla, and Layla Jones received the Toner Prize for Excellence in Local Political Reporting for their coverage that traced the reasons for Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s victory in the crowded Democratic primary last year. Their portfolio of submitted work included reporting made possible by funding from the Lenfest Institute’s Every Voice, Every Vote initiative.
The articles included in the winning entry covered how Philly’s unprecedented gun violence crisis defined the race and how the city’s neighborhoods fall into segregated groups of Democrats, as well as Parker’s roots, and how she won the primary.
Established in 2009, the Robin Toner Program in Political Reporting is named after Robin Toner, the first woman to serve as a national political correspondent of the New York Times and a 1976 Newhouse alumna. The awards “recognize and reinforce quality, fact-based political reporting — work that illuminates the electoral process, reveals the politics of policy, and engages the public in democracy,” according to the program.
The Washington Post also received the $5,000 prize for a series of stories about political rancor in Michigan.
A panel of seven esteemed journalists, former journalists, and professors praised The Inquirer’s work on the mayoral election.
“This is the whole package — a richly reported political series, giving readers a thorough look at the choices for mayor,” said Maralee Schwartz, retired political editor of the Washington Post. " … The issues are there, the city’s voting demographics, the voices of voters and officials, and profiles of the candidates. And, so importantly, explained to the readers why Parker won.”
Ann Compton, an Emmy Award-winning retired reporter for ABC News and the first woman to cover the White House for network television, said the work was “refreshingly free of horse race” coverage, a term used for political reporting that is focused on who is ahead in the polls instead of unpacking the issues that impact voters.
“Early in the election cycle, in time to have real impact, this is an impressive reach out to grassroots organizations and voters in a critical year,” Compton said. “Well-written, factual and balanced. Excellent historical dig through Democratic precincts with clarity and impact.”