With two weeks to go until the Reuters Journalists of the Year Awards are broadcast on March 18, here’s a look at our finalists for Commentary and Analysis, Scoop, Graphic and Best Use of Social Media.
Commentary and Analysis of the Year recognizes an individual or team who produced exceptional and insightful pieces of commentary, opinion and/or analysis. The finalists are:
Jenna Greene, for her range of legal commentary, from the inside story of a law firm working pro bono to help U.S. mayors come up with a detailed plan on reforming policing to a musing on the holiday lawyer movies Hollywood should really make.
Andy Home, for a series of lively and insightful pieces on the minerals essential to the electric vehicle industry, providing Reuters’ readers with thought leadership on the challenges in sourcing these materials and what the rapidly evolving industry in new transportation means for mining companies across Latin America, Africa and Asia.
Robyn Mak, for a series of prescient views on Asian technology and biotech that kept readers ahead of the game on several big stories and trends throughout a challenging year.
Lance Tupper, for high-quality analysis of stocks for the Live Markets and Stocks Buzz format and elevating that file by guiding others on the Buzz beat.
Scoop of the Year recognizes an individual or team whose exceptional reporting resulted in Reuters breaking a major story with significant impact. The finalists are:
Mass graves on Hart Island, by Lucas Jackson and Brendan McDermid, for exclusive photos and video of mass graves on New York’s Hart Island as the city’s daily death rate from the coronavirus epidemic reached grim new records.
The Falwell Affair, by Aram Roston, for reporting, in well-sourced and startling detail, the accusations of a sexual relationship with leading evangelical Jerry Falwell and his wife by a former business partner.
Argentina debt deal, for an incredible two-hour win over Reuters competitors in confirming Argentina finally clinched a debt deal with its creditors, perhaps the largest story in emerging markets in 2020. The team includes Tom Arnold, Adam Jourdan, Marc Jones, Karin Strohecker, Rodrigo Campos, Nicolas Misculin, Hugh Bronstein, Eliana Raszewski, Cassandra Garrison and Gabriel Burin.
U.S. crackdown on TikTok, for a string of scoops, analysis and insights on the U.S. government’s crackdown on Chinese-owned app TikTok. The team includes Echo Wang, David Shepardson, Yingzhi Yang, Julie Zhu, Alexandra Alper, Joshua Franklin, Keith Zhai, Stephen Nellis and Sheila Dang.
Europe anti-trust decisions, by Foo Yun Chee, is nominated for coverage of Europe’s biggest anti-trust decisions of 2020, including the Fiat-PSA merger, Google’s takeover of Fitbit and the LSE’s acquisition of the Refinitiv data business.
Russian paramedics’ accounts challenge Moscow’s explanation for Navalny’s coma, by Anton Zverev and Gleb Stolyarov, is nominated for their courage and creativity in landing a world-beating scoop on the science behind the real state of Alexander Navalny’s health shortly after he was poisoned in September 2020.
U.S. air monitors routinely miss pollution – even refinery explosions, by Tim McLaughlin, Laila Kearney and Laura Sanicola, for a hugely original and illuminating exclusive on refinery air monitoring in the U.S., which misses all the pollution created by refineries.
Graphic of the Year recognizes an individual or team who demonstrated exceptional graphic techniques. The nominees are:
The COVID-19 Global Tracker, which helped readers to understand the true size and human cost of “milestone” events in the pandemic. The team includes Jon McClure, Gurman Bhatia, Prasanta Kumar Dutta, Chris Canipe, Simon Scarr, Manas Sharma, Marco Hernandez, Lisa Shumaker, Cate Cadell, Jane Wardell. Data collection and research: Anna Banacka, Anna Pruchnicka, Cate Cadell, Christine Chan, Daniela Desantis, Diana Mandia Alvarez, Elizaveta Gladun, Emily Isaacman, Enrico Sciacovelli, Gayle Issa, Javier Lopez, Joao Manuel Vicente Mauricio, Juliette Portala, Kanupriya Kapoor, Lisa Shumaker, Olga Beskrovnova, Padraic Cassidy, Veronica Snoj, Wen Foo, Katarzyna Zajaczkowska, Antonis Pothitos, Shaina Ahluwalia, Chaithra J, Roshan Abraham, Kavya B, Anurag Maan, Sangameswaran S, Anand Katakam, Shrivathsa Sridhar, Hardik Vyas, Simon Jennings., Olivier Cherfan, Kate Entringer, Dagmarah Mackos, Federica Mileo, Kate Entringer and Piotr Lipinski.
Australia and California wildfires, by Simon Scarr, Manas Sharma and Marco Hernandez, for a series of multimedia graphical explainers on the devastating fire seasons in Australia and California. The team used maps, graphics, animations, illustrations, photo and video to unveil their impact, from sheer size and historical context to the ecological and environmental tolls and effect on the wine industry.
How COVID changed the way we live, for a series of visual explainers which helped readers make sense of the “new normal.” The team includes Samuel Granados, Anand Katakam, Michael Ovaska, Feilding Cage, Ally Levine, Minami Funakoshi and Sam Hart.
U.S. live election results, for the detailed live election app that delivered results of the U.S. election in real time to both clients and Reuters.com in 11 languages, as well as a suite of explainer graphics that made sense of the complex and arcane U.S. election processes. The team includes Chris Canipe, Ally Levine, Sam Hart, Travis Hartman, Minami Funakoshi, Wen Foo, Jan Wolfe and Elizabeth Culliford.
Best Use of Social Media recognizes an individual or team who demonstrated new, creative and innovative storytelling techniques. The finalists are:
Discussing Race in America, for exceptional social media activity around race in America, including Twitter chats and Reddit AMAs, which engaged tens of millions of users. The team includes Lauren Young, Beatrix Lockwood, Ben Kellerman, Trevor Hunnicutt, April Joyner, Jonnelle Marte and Arlene Washington.
Climate change on @ReutersScience, by Hani Richter, for showcasing Reuters environmental coverage on the @ReutersScience handle and creating a variety of Twitter threads laced with rich graphics and images as well as memorable new moments for our digital audience in a challenging year.
Views from within the Pandemic, by Jenna Zucker, Canice Leung, Beatrix Lockwood and Kathryn Lurie, for using Instagram stories to humanize the millions of COVID-19 deaths and infections by highlighting the doctors and nurses, undertakers, essential workers and communities most at risk.
The Election 2020 Liveblog, which epitomized the cooperation between news gathering and the production hub. The team includes Derek Caney, Natalie Armstrong, Ben Kellerman, Canice Leung, David Lucas, Eric Martyn, Jeremy Schultz, Arlene Washington and Jenna Zucker.
Tune in on March 18 to find out the winners and learn more about their work. You can register for the event, which will be broadcast three times tailored to key time zones, here.
[Reuters PR blog post]
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