2009 Dart Awards: Telling the Hardest Stories
Since 1994, the Dart Awards for Excellence in Coverage of Trauma have honored the most effective, ethical and innovative journalism on the impact of traumatic events. Over the years, topics have ranged from incest to electroshock therapy, from Hiroshima to attempted homicide, while the winning stories have held in common a deep and informative reckoning with the experience of victims, survivors and their communities. To give journalists a better sense of both the core values and original innovations that the Dart Awards celebrate, we asked the three winning teams and final judges from 2009: What makes a Dart Award winner?
In the second video, Joanna Connors tells how she reported "Beyond Rape: A Survivor's Journey," her remarkable first person account of her own rape, its aftermath and an investigation of the life that led her assailant to be a violent criminal. Her team at The Plain Dealer and the 2009 Dart Award judges talk about the reporting process and the qualities that led the story to win a Dart Award for Excellence in Coverage of Trauma.
In the third video, PRI's Jeb Sharp and the 2009 Dart Award judges talk about how she reported her series, "Rape as a Weapon of War," and why it won the Dart Award for Excellence in Coverage of Trauma.