The Denver Post took top honors in the Colorado Press Association’s 2024 Better News Media Contest over the weekend, winning General Excellence in the large newspaper category and the inaugural A-Mark Prize for Responsive Journalism.
The Post won 31 awards for stories, columns, photographs, newsletters and page design — including first place for public service — as well as best-in-class honors in its editorial and photo/design divisions at the association’s 147th annual convention on Saturday.
Reporters Sam Tabachnik and Shelly Bradbury won first place in the A-Mark competition for their story “How Pueblo weaponizes contempt of court to inflate jail time for minor crimes” and follow-up reporting on Colorado’s municipal court system. The award, co-presented and funded by the nonprofit A-Mark Foundation, recognizes “deep reporting that responds to clearly communicated community needs.”
The Colorado Press Association also honored legislative reporter Seth Klamann with the organization’s First Amendment Award, recognizing his body of work at The Post that has advanced and honored freedom of speech and the press.
The organization inducted Jeanette Chavez, The Post’s managing editor from 1997 to 2011, and Steve Zansberg, a leading First Amendment attorney in Denver who represents The Post, into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame.
Journalists at The Post won 18 first-place awards in the following categories:
Best Agriculture Story: Tabachnik, for “Unenforced Labor,” a three-part investigation into unsafe working conditions in Colorado’s agricultural industry.
Best Arts & Entertainment Column Writing: John Wenzel, for reviews of the “Frozen” musical at the Buell Theatre and the Maurice Sendak exhibit at the Denver Art Museum.
Best Business News/Feature Story: Aldo Svaldi, for a story about the future of the Brown Palace Hotel & Spa.
Best Crime & Public Safety Reporting: Tabachnik and Bradbury for the Pueblo Municipal Court story.
Best Data Journalism Reporting: Jessica Seaman for a data-analysis story that showed a 25% jump in suspensions in Colorado schools since the pandemic.
Best Editorial Special Section: The Post’s sports staff for “Under Construction,” the 2024 Denver Broncos preview.
Best Environmental Story: Elise Schmelzer for a story about the thousands of abandoned mines in Colorado that are leaking toxic water.
Best Humorous Column Writing: Former staff writer Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton for a column about her experience hiking with nudists in Boulder County.
Best News Story: Klamann, Jessica Alvarado Gamez and former staff writer Joe Rubino for their in-depth report on the Aurora apartment complexes at the center of gang-takeover claims.
Best Politics Reporting: John Aguilar for a story on the impacts of U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert’s congressional-district switch.
Best Public Service Project: Meg Wingerter for “Colorado’s Quiet Killer,” a four-part series that examined how alcohol kills more people than overdoses in this state, yet there’s been little effort to address that.
Best Serious Column Writing: Megan Schrader for columns about Denver Public Schools hiding key information during open enrollment and about what we can learn from the marriage of an “ultra-MAGA Fox producer” to “Colorado’s liberal kingmaker.”
Best Social Justice or Equity Reporting: Elizabeth Hernandez for a story about how Colorado librarians are now front-line crisis workers.
Best News Photograph: Former staff photographer Helen H. Richardson for a photograph of a helicopter filling up its water tank to fight a wildfire.
Best Page Design: Lori Punko for Colorado’s Travis Hunter double trouble.
Best Photo Slideshow, Gallery or Photo Essay: RJ Sangosti and Patrick Traylor for images inside the Aurora apartments made famous by gang-takeover claims.
Best Photography Portfolio: RJ Sangosti’s 2024 portfolio, which includes the image at the top of this page.
Best Sports Photograph: AAron Ontiveroz for his photograph of bare-knuckle boxing champion Paty Juárez.
The Post also won 13 second-place awards at Saturday’s ceremony. Submissions for the Better News Media Contest were judged by members of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association.
For the full list of 2024 winners, see the Colorado Press Association’s spreadsheet at tinyurl.com/cpa-awards.
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