EHN reporter Kristina Marusic received an honorable mention for her beat reporting on air pollution in Western Pennsylvania by the Society of Environmental Journalists.
Winners of the annual awards—the largest competition of its kind—were announced today. The awards honor publications large and small for investigative work, beat reporting, explanatory journalism, student reporting and environmental books.
Marusic's work—nominated in the Outstanding Beat Reporting, Small Market category—was highlighted by her 2018 series, Breathless, which investigated an asthma epidemic, finding nearly 60 percent of children with asthma in Pittsburgh don't have the disease under control.
The series also found that more than one-in-five children in the region, or 22 percent, have asthma. Nationally, the rate of childhood asthma is 8 percent. And children living close to the region's big industrial polluters had consistently higher asthma rates.Top honors went to The Philadelphia Inquirer for their "Toxic City: Sick Schools" series; the World Politics Review for "They Took on the Philippines' Powerful Mining Interests, and Are Paying with Their Lives"; Vox's Dave Roberts for beat reporting; The Providence Journal's Alex Kuffner for beat reporting; Reuters' "Ocean Shock" series; The New York Times Magazine for "Losing Earth"; and Anna Clark for her book, "The Poisoned City: Flint's Water and the American Urban Tragedy."
Top honors went to The Philadelphia Inquirer for their "Toxic City: Sick Schools" series; the World Politics Review for "They Took on the Philippines' Powerful Mining Interests, and Are Paying with Their Lives"; Vox's Dave Roberts for beat reporting; The Providence Journal's Alex Kuffner for beat reporting; Reuters' "Ocean Shock" series; The New York Times Magazine for "Losing Earth"; and Anna Clark for her book, "The Poisoned City: Flint's Water and the American Urban Tragedy."
SEJ judges said of Marusic's reporting: "Reporter Kristina Marusic provides thorough, even-handed coverage of the effects of air pollution on some of Pennsylvania's most vulnerable residents."
Earlier this year "Breathless" was one of nine finalists for the NIHCM Digital Media Prize.
SEJ will honor all of the winners on Oct. 12, 2019, during the society's 29th annual conference in Fort Collins, Colorado.
