Source NM takes home awards for stories and columns from our first four months as an outlet

April 13, 2022 6:47 pm

The Rio Grande (Photo by Marisa Demarco / Source NM)

There’s not a journalist out there who does it for the awards. That’s maybe hyperbolic, sure. I’m pretty certain though.

Still, I’m glad for a chance to celebrate the hardworking and talented Source New Mexico staff and freelancers who made this outlet from scratch — if they’ll tolerate me bragging on them real quick.

With four staff members, we compete in the small newsroom division. I selected content to enter regional contests from our launch on Aug. 31, 2021 through the last day of the year. And four months of stories and columns managed to win or place in many categories.

That speaks to just how devoted these reporters and columnists are to serving their communities with clear, high-quality, thoughtful reporting that sees stories not only from the vantage point of government halls, but from where policy meets the dirt road out in front of your house.

Some of the articles that won awards explore embedded social and systemic problems, and the resulting hardships. As I read through the stories again, I’m thinking of the people who took time to speak with Source reporters about their experiences and knowledge. Thank you for sharing your expertise.

As always, questions, concerns and complaints can be sent to [email protected]. I’ll take story tips, too, and get them assigned to one of the reporters I’m so lucky to work with.

Top of the Rockies awards from the Society of Professional Journalists

First Place, Agriculture Feature

Patrick Lohmann — ‘It’s my livelihood’: Drought and restrictions could kill farms along Rio Grande, farmers say

First Place, Extended Coverage

Shaun Griswold for his reporting on the gravesite under 4-H Park, including this story:

Indigenous communities face choices about Indian School gravesite in Albuquerque

First Place, Legal Feature

Austin Fisher for the series Young and Incarcerated

First Place, Politics News

Patrick Lohmann — In a scramble to spend federal funds, lawmakers make million-dollar errors

First Place, Business Feature

Patrick Lohmann — New state law banned a county’s gas stations from selling liquor. So some stopped selling gas.

First Place, Health News

Lissa Knudsen — Rise in newborn syphilis cases prompts DOH intervention

Second Place, Health Feature

Lissa Knudsen — Anti-DWI tech to be installed in all new vehicles and New DWI detection tech might alter the law’s disproportionate impacts

Second Place, Enterprise Reporting

Patrick Lohmann — ‘Rust’ cast member: Production was rushed, crew overworked before fatal shooting

Second Place, Short-Form Feature

Margaret Wright — Another difficult journey

Second Place, Series or Package

Patrick Lohmann and Austin Fisher for the housing series, including this story:

Emergency rent relief application difficult and misleading, organizers say

Second Place, Legal News

Austin Fisher — New Mexico militia compares itself to NAACP, prosecutors liken it to the KKK

Second Place, Politics Feature

Patrick Lohmann — Tribal coalition left in the dark as redistricting nears, member says

Second Place, Science and Tech News

Shaun Griswold — New Mexico PBS to broadcast educational materials to 100 students’ computers

Third Place, Science and Tech Feature

Shaun Griswold — New Mexico’s lone shark attack

Third Place, Education News

Shaun Griswold for District policies blocked students from learning remotely

Third Place, Best Solutions Journalism

Arlyssa Becenti — Volunteers deliver firewood before the snow hits

The New Mexico Press Women’s Communications Contest

First Place, News Story, Online Publication

Austin Fisher — Appeals court: Silver City PD brushed its own domestic violence policy aside

First Place, Feature Story, Online Publication

Shaun Griswold — Former superintendent files discrimination lawsuit against Four Corners school district

First Place, Agriculture Writing, Online Publication

Patrick Lohmann — ‘It’s my livelihood’: Drought and restrictions could kill farms along Rio Grande, farmers say

First place, In-Depth Reporting, Online Publication

Austin Fisher and Patrick Lohmann for all of their coverage of housing during the pandemic, including this one:

Shadow evictions: Illegal lockouts rise in NM during the pandemic despite a state law aimed at preventing them

First Place, Editorial / Opinion

Margaret Wright — Decline an invitation to any party eating its own

Second Place, Personal Column

Barbara Jordan — What was it all for?

Second Place, Continuing Coverage / Unfolding News

Shaun Griswold for all of his stories about the Albuquerque Indian School gravesite, including this one:

Indigenous leaders seek an apology about the mass grave in Albuquerque

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Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our web site.

Marisa Demarco

Marisa Demarco is an Albuquerque-based journalist and lifelong New Mexican whose work has won national and regional awards. She's spent almost two decades as a reporter, producer and newsroom leader, co-founding the New Mexico Compass, and editing and writing for the Weekly Alibi, the Albuquerque Tribune and UNM's Daily Lobo. She began a career in radio full-time at KUNM News in late 2013 and covered public health and criminal legal reform for much of the last seven years. During the pandemic, she was also the executive producer for “Your NM Gov” and “No More Normal,” shows focused on the varied impacts of COVID-19 and community response, as well as racial and social justice.