Staff members Beth Edwards and Enrique Saenz, who produce multimedia content for the Indiana Environmental Reporter, won several awards in the Indiana Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists' Best of Indiana Journalism Contest. They entered their work in the division for publications with circulation below 30,000.
Edwards won first place in Environmental Reporting for "A question of scale," about confined animal feeding operations in Indiana. The judges said, “A question of scale was absolutely mind blowing. Great reporting, photos and data visualizations. The Indiana Environmental Reporter excels in its field, and Beth is the ace.”
Saenz won two firsts: Coverage of Government or Politics for a package of stories on “Tracking regulations affecting Hoosier health, environment,” and Business or Consumer Affairs Reporting for stories on “Regulatory and pandemic difficulties in 2020.” He also won second in Environmental Reporting and third in Coverage of Social Justice Issues for a package on “Covering Indiana's disproportionate health and energy burden.” The judges called Saenz’s stories on environmental rules “compelling and extensive, enlightening the state and its citizens about changing environmental laws and regulations.”
Indiana Environmental Reporter is funded by The Media School and IU’s Environmental Resilience Institute.