Staff Report
Note: This story has been updated to reflect an additional award announced Sept. 19 and comments from contest judges.
NC Health News has been lauded with an organization-record 21 awards in the annual North Carolina Press Association editorial contest, including first place for overall general excellence for online publications and five other first-place wins.
The state press association honored work published from March 2023 to March 2024. NC Health News was judged among its peers in the online-only category, which consisted of 19 publications.
NC Health News won the most of any online outlet for the second year in a row.
Last year, NC Health News won 17 awards, the most of any online outlet that year. The publication took home 17 awards in 2022 as well. Last year’s awards included two second-place nods for general excellence for overall publication and website. Specialty awards such as general excellence for the current contest were announced Sept. 19 at the NCPA annual convention in Raleigh.
Also in this year’s contest, NC Health News won nine second-place and six third-place awards. The wins included a sweep of the graphic/illustration category.
“I’m so proud to lead a team of such talented and dedicated journalists who maintain their focus on keeping the public informed,” editor Rose Hoban said. “I’m so glad these honors recognize their hard work and the deep knowledge of their beats that they bring to the table.”
Gender and inmate health reporter Rachel Crumpler won three first-place awards, including one shared with NC Health News founder and editor Rose Hoban for a breaking news story on the late-night vote to change North Carolina’s abortion regulations.
“For something that happened and moved through very quickly, this story is packed with quotes and context,” contest judges wrote.
Crumpler’s other winning stories chronicled abortion changes in the state after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision; she also profiled an Alamance County program that helps formerly incarcerated women get back on their feet.
Medicaid and rural health reporter Jaymie Baxley won a first-place award for an interactive graphic detailing how the state budget would address rural health needs. He also won first place for a video explaining Medicaid unwinding, the process where states could remove people from Medicaid rolls after the expiration of a federal provision that had prevented that during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Below are links to the work recognized by the Press Association.
First-place prizes went to:
- Rachel Crumpler, news enterprise, for her coverage of abortion. Read the stories:
- After the fall of Roe, physicians confronted their toughest year working in reproductive health care
- With increasing limits on abortion access, NC nurses step into reproductive rights advocacy
- A clearer picture is emerging of the impact of North Carolina’s new abortion restrictions
- Access to abortion fraught with more logistical challenges as patients confront increased restrictions
- U.S. Supreme Court justices heard a case on abortion pills Tuesday. How could their ruling affect North Carolina?
- Rachel Crumpler and Rose Hoban, breaking news, on the late-night vote to change North Carolina’s abortion regulations.
- Rachel Crumpler, beat feature reporting, on the Benevolence Farm program for formerly incarcerated women. “A touching and personalized look at what appears to be a successful and meaningful alternative within the corrections industry. Solid and engaging reporting. Good job!” the judges wrote.
- Jaymie Baxley, video, Medicaid unwinding explainer.
- Jaymie Baxley, illustration/photo illustration/print or interactive graphics, for an interactive bar graph on rural health spending in the budget.
Second-place prizes went to:
- Rose Hoban, video, Cooper puts veto stamp on abortion restrictions bill. “Good quality and use of tik-tok to reach audience on a local political story with national importance,” the judges wrote.
- Anne Blythe, sports enterprise reporting, on heat guidelines for student athletes. “Well covered, important topic. The writer checked all the boxes for a good story,” judges wrote.
- Anne Blythe, ledes (the story introductions that draw a reader in and keep them engaged). Read them:
- Jennifer Fernandez, graphic/illustration, HPV vaccinations declining.
- Taylor Knopf, general news reporting, ‘Death by distribution’ law. “Good job covering both sides of an issue,” the contest judges wrote. “Fantastic example of unbiased reporting. It is an extremely informative article without being encyclopedic. Great job.”
- Jennifer Fernandez, education reporting, Care to Care program for hospitalized children.
- Jaymie Baxley, beat news reporting, series of stories on Medicaid unwinding. “Another great set of stories that capture real people falling through the cracks as a result of a large policy shift,” contest judges wrote. Read the stories:
- ‘Unwinding’ could undermine Medicaid expansion in North Carolina
- What to know about Medicaid unwinding in N.C.
- As NC begins Medicaid ‘unwinding,’ federal official warns of worrying trends
- New DHHS numbers show thousands of people lost Medicaid in June
- North Carolinians are losing Medicaid in droves. Can the purge be stopped?
- Rachel Crumpler, arts and entertainment reporting, Prison to Promise podcast.
- Staff, headline writing:
Third-place prizes went to:
- Summer intern Lucas Thomae, news enterprise reporting, Will medical marijuana make roads less safe?
- Jennifer Fernandez, graphic/illustration, interactive map on abortions by N.C. county in 2021.
- Rose Hoban and Anne Blythe, breaking news, State budget heavy on health care.
- Jennifer Fernandez, beat news reporting, “I tried to get one of your guns today.”
- Jennifer Fernandez, beat feature reporting, TambraPlace provides housing for unsheltered youth. “Excellent reporting on a serious national issue that is hyper-localized by the writer,” the judges wrote. “Residents should be proud of what sounds to be a very successful program.”
- Jaymie Baxley, arts and entertainment, Crooning for a Cure: The star-studded song that changed NC’s health care landscape.
Hoban, a registered nurse and journalist in North Carolina for nearly two decades, founded NC Health News in 2011 to fill in the critical reporting gap on health care as newsrooms across the state reduced or eliminated coverage.
The staff of full-time reporters, freelancers, interns and support team are scattered across the state. Add in the board, which is also geographically dispersed, and NC Health News’ footprint extends from Waynesville to Ahoskie.
NC Health News is an independent 501(c)(3) not-for-profit, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to covering health care in the state, employing the highest journalistic standards of fairness, accuracy and extensive research.
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