Recap: 2021 and 2020 NLA Awards Ceremony
On June 15, we held the annual NLA Awards ceremony, but for the first time in virtual format. This event was held to celebrate and honor the excellent journalism that won the 2021 and 2020 NLA Awards. The NLA Awards continue the long traditions of the previous ASNE and APME Awards, and are among the most prestigious in journalism.
The event consisted of Q&A sessions with NLA Award winners Ron Nixon, Stephanie Clifford, Christina Jewett, Mike Baker and Jack Dolan, plus an awards ceremony.
The program began with a surprise congratulatory video for 2021 News Leader of the Year, Ron Nixon, from his staff at The Associated Press, which you can see here.
We then heard from Ron Nixon during a Q&A with Martha Mendoza, where Ron provided incredible insight into what makes him such a well-beloved and respected leader. As a musician, Ron shared that the discipline and cadence necessary in music is what has helped him as an investigative journalist.
Ron also shared insight into what he looks for in a new team member. “I can help you with the writing, but I can’t teach that inner drive, it has to come from within.” He said that, as The Associated Press is a global news organization, they should go after everything. He wants people who have that same ambition, who want to do those bigger stories, take on those bigger challenges; self-starters who can motivate themselves and focus on the journalism, so he can focus on removing the distractions around them such as resource concerns, angry people and more.
Ron Nixon and Martha Mendoza, The Associated Press
The next session was a Q&A between Kayla Webley and our 2021 Deborah Howell Award winner, Stephanie Clifford. Stephanie won the Howell award for her work entitled, “The Journalist and the Pharma Bro,” which follows the story of Christie Smythe’s relationship with Martin Shkreli after they both covered Martin’s case.
Stephanie shared her reaction, as well as Christie’s, to the unexpected turn of her story going viral. Stephanie said that as a journalist, you always hope your stories will be engaging online. But no one predicted the amount of engagement and conversation would be so vast; people started subtweeting it without even mentioning the story, but everyone still knew what they were talking about. Kayla and Stephanie ended their discussion by noting that it was an incredible opportunity to have the piece published by ELLE, as it allowed for more dialogue around the importance and need for support of women’s magazines.
Stephanie Clifford, freelance, and Kayla Webley, ELLE
Our last Q&A of the evening was a panel with Christina Jewett from Kaiser Health News, Mike Baker from New York Times and Jack Dolan from Los Angeles Times, led by Michael Days, immediate past president of NLA.
The panel discussed their experiences dealing with the struggles they faced in trying to get information for their pieces, from facing denial about the PPE shortage to needing to earn trust from families to access medical records. They shared that they found the work rewarding, and they appreciated having the support, commitment and vision of their editors.
Christina Jewett, Kaiser Health News; Mike Baker, New York Times; Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times; and Michael Days, News Leaders Association
The 2020 winners were presented by NLA Award Committee co-chair, Alison Gerber, and the 2021 winners were presented by NLA President, George Stanley.
Learn more about the 2021 NLA Award winners.
Learn more about the 2020 NLA Award winners.
Learn more about the 2020 Barry Bingham Sr. Fellowship Award, Professor Mei-Ling Hopgood.
A full recording of the awards ceremony and video clips of the Q&A sessions are available here.
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