The Utah Investigative Journalism Project took home top honors in the Society of Professional Journalists “Top of the Rockies” regional contest, competing against media outlets in Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming and Utah.
We took First Place in the “Investigative/Enterprise Reporting” category for our expose on the student-teacher aide who had been sexually abusing underage deaf girls and the failure of authorities to pursue justice in the case.
We also won First Place in the “Science and Technology Enterprise Reporting” category for our story on the automated-driving study at the University of Utah that two research assistants criticzed for endangering the lives of Utah motorists and research participants.
Judges were also awarded us First Place in “Religion General Reporting” for our investigation into the hidden revelations of the Knights of the Crystal Blade cult and how they used social media to spread their teachings and recruit members.
This is a big honor for us and our media partners. All of our winning entries were published in separate outlets–The Salt Lake Tribune, The Deseret News, and The Spectrum.
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