Since 1994, the Dart Awards for Excellence in Coverage of Trauma have recognized exemplary journalism on the impact of violence, crime and other traumatic events on individuals, families and communities. Spotlighting the experiences of victims and survivors, Dart Award winners make significant contributions to public understanding of trauma-related issues. Past winners include some of the world’s best-known news organizations as well as small community outlets.
The Dart Awards are open to newspaper, magazine, online, radio, television, video and multimedia journalism from North America that goes beyond the ordinary in reporting on trauma. Two $5,000 cash prizes are awarded each year.
2023 First Round Judges: Ted Alcorn, independent journalist and Associate Professor, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University; Lisa Armstrong, journalist and Professor, University of California Berkeley School of Journalism; Melissa Bailey, freelance journalist; Chris Benderev, producer, This American Life and 2022 Dart Award Honorable Mention; Annelise Jolley, freelance journalist and 2022 Dart Award Winner; Susan Kaplan, broadcast journalist; Meg Kissinger, investigative reporter and author; Meg Martin, Knight-Wallace fellow, University of Michigan; Naseem Miller, senior health editor, Harvard Kennedy School’s Journalist's Resource; Steve Montiel, retired journalist; Betsy O'Donovan, assistant professor, Western Washington University; Francine Orr, staff photojournalist, Los Angeles Times and 2022 Dart Award Winner; Andrea Simakis, Director of Media Relations, Oberlin College and Conservatory and 2020 Dart Award winner; Carly Willsie, former head, Logan Nonfiction Program; Mike Walter, news anchor, CGTN-America News; Almudena Toral, executive producer for video and film, ProPublica and 2021 Dart Award Honorable Mention.
2023 Final Judges: Issac Bailey, Laventhol Visiting Professor, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism; John Barth, Principal, Creative Media LLC; Adriana Gallardo, engagement reporter, ProPublica and 2021 Dart Award Winner; Angela Nickerson, PhD, Professor and Director of the Refugee Trauma and Recovery Program at the School of Psychology, University of New South Wales; Sacha Pfeiffer, correspondent, NPR’s Investigations Team.
Read more about the 2023 Final Judging Committee here
Past judges include: Ana Arana, Director, Fundacion MEPI and 2013 Dart Award winner; John Barth, Managing Director, Public Radio Exchange (PRX); David Boardman, Dean, Temple University School of Media and Communication; Jessica Bruder, journalist and author; Jelani Cobb, Staff Writer, The New Yorker; Lori Grinker, Documentary Photographer; Kenny Irby, Senior Faculty, The Poynter Institute; Susan Meiselas, photographer, Magnum Photo Agency; Miranda Olff Ph.D., Professor, AMC/University of Amsterdam and past president, International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS); Sacha Pfeiffer, Investigative Reporter, The Boston Globe; Glenn Smith, Projects Editor, The Post and Courier and 2015 Dart Award winner; Sarah Stillman, Staff Writer, The New Yorker; and Alisa Solomon, Professor, Columbia Journalism School; Ginger Thompson, chief of correspondents, ProPublica; Raghuram Vadarevu, digital storytelling editor for global investigations, Associated Press.
A young mother rents a house in West Allis. The previous tenant tells her, "Baby, they shouldn't have let you move in."
Reporting Advice from Ian Urbina and Joe Sexton from The Outlaw Ocean Project
The judging panel commended the reporting team for shining a light on “compounding tragedies and unfairnesses,” and putting together a “riveting package” of “love and loss in the face of adversity.” They praised Joe Mozingo for the “depth” of his reporting, and for “refusing to describe his subjects as ‘victims,’” instead portraying them “as warriors who are fighting hard battles, whether it's against the ravages of COVID-19 or structural racism.” They hailed the “compassion, care and visual power” of Francine Orr’s photography, saying it’s “clear how hard the reporting duo worked to gain the trust of the hospitals and their sources,” depicting “heroes of stories that are about survival.” Originally published by The Los Angeles Times between February and December, 2021.
Repeated abuses, overlooked complaints and a surge in suicide attempts at a detention center with powerful allies.
This series offers an up-close view of the devastating and enduring impact of gun violence on children's lives.
Journalist Connie Walker's quest to better understand her father and find the priest who abused him in a Canadian residential school leads to one of the most comprehensive investigations to date into a single school.
Judges praised "They Were Sons" for painting “a full picture of the men who died and what it means to lose them,” and for showing the reader the “human shaped holes in the lives of their mothers.” They called the “powerful, first-person storytelling” “unfiltered and unvarnished,” and praised its ability to “capture pride and pain at the same time,” providing a “sense of all that lingers for families after the headlines and social media outrage passes.” They applauded Rita Omokha's “self-effacement and courage,” calling her work “a profound exercise of journalistic responsibility” and “an act of refusal of the easy reporting path.” Originally published by Vanity Fair on May 6, 2021.
The 2024 Dart Awards went to The Boston Globe for "Nightmare in Mission Hill: The Untold Story of the Charles and Carol Stuart Shooting" and to The Marshall Project for "The Mercy Workers." Honorable Mentions went to The New Yorker and The New York Times.
Since 1994, the Dart Awards for Excellence in Coverage of Trauma have recognized exemplary journalism on the impact of violence, crime and other traumatic events on individuals, families and communities. Spotlighting the experiences of victims and survivors, Dart Award honorees make significant contributions to public understanding of trauma-related issues. The 2024 Dart Award finalists include some of the world’s best-known news organizations as well as small community outlets.
