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The Newhouse School of Public Communications announced The Washington Post and The Philadelphia Inquirer won the 2024 Toner Prize for national and local political reporting, respectively, in Washington, D.C. Monday.

The winner of the Toner Prize for Excellence in National Political Reporting went to The Washington Post for its work from Greg Jaffe and Patrick Marley on Ottawa County, Michigan. The awarded stories included:

• “In a thriving Michigan county, a community goes to war with itself”
• “A sex educator in Michigan refused to be shamed. Then came the backlash.”
• “The pandemic has faded in this Michigan county. The mistrust never ended.”
• “Can the exhausted, angry people of Ottawa County learn to live together?”

“This is a superb example of a microscopic examination of a growing national infection and its lessons to the nation as the drama unfolded,” Ann Compton, a judge and former reporter for ABC News, wrote about the series.

The winner of the Toner Prize for Excellence in Local Political Reporting went to The Philadelphia Inquirer for its work covering the Philidelphia mayoral race from Anna Orso, Sean Walsh, Julia Terruso, Aseem Shukla and Layla Jones. The awarded stories included:

• “Philly’s next mayor will inherit an unprecedented gun violence crisis. Here’s how it’s defining the race.”
• “Philly neighborhoods fall into six segregated groups of Democrats”
• “Cherelle Parker is proud of her West Oak Lane roots. As mayor, could she save Philly’s ‘middle neighborhoods’?”
• “How Cherelle Parker won the primary: Black voters, a boost from labor, and a personal story of Philly grit”

“This is the whole package—a richly reported political series, giving readers a thorough look at the choices for mayor,” Maralee Schwartz, a retired political editor of The Washington Post, wrote. The issues are there, the city’s voting demographics, the voices of voters and officials, and profiles of the candidates … Very well done.”

Since 2009, Newhouse has awarded Toner Prizes for Excellence in Political Reporting annually for “the best U.S. national or local political reporting in any medium or on any platform—print, broadcast or online,” according to its website.

Other finalists for national reporting included stories from The New York Times, ProPublica, Center for Public Integrity and NPR. The honorable mention for local political reporting went to THE CITY’s “Straw Donors, Ethics Violations Plague Eric Adams Campaign Fundraising Efforts.” Other local reporting finalists included stories from The Coronado News, Mississippi Today, The Texas Tribune and Miami Herald.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper was the event’s keynote speaker and NPR’s White House correspondent, Asma Khalid, was the master of ceremonies. During the event, the Toner-Gosselin family recognized Cecile Richards, the former president of Planned Parenthood and a New York Times bestselling author. Robin Toner, the prize’s namesake, interacted with Richards while reporting, according to the event announcement.

The prizes were established to honor late Newhouse alumnus Toner, the first woman to be a national political correspondent for The New York Times, through the Robin Toner Program in Political Reporting. Winners of each category — local and national reporting — receive the awards and a $5,000 prize.

Published on March 25, 2024 at 11:34 pm

Contact Griffin: gbrown19@syr.edu