TheBaltimore Sun and The Wichita Eagle were awarded prestigious journalism awards on Wednesday for respective coverage of municipal corruption involving their cities’ mayor’s offices.
Luke Broadwater and the Baltimore Sun won the George Polk Award for political reporting, recognizing their coverage of former Mayor Catherine Pugh that led to her resignation from office and federal charges filed against her. The Sun shared the award with Chance Swaim, Jonathan Shorman and Dion Lefler of The Wichita Eagle, whose reporting exposed that former Wichita Mayor Jeff Longwell steered a city contract toward supporters and friends.
The awards were established by Long Island University in 1949 to recognize outstanding work across all media platforms and honor reporters for uncovering “matters of critical importance” to create change in their communities, according to the award’s description.
The Baltimore Sun discovered last spring that Pugh sold her “Healthy Holly” children’s books to non-profits and foundations to promote her political career and fund her run for mayor. The Democratic lawmaker resigned under pressure in May and awaits sentencing next week on conspiracy and tax evasion charges.
The Sun’s reporting also revealed that about a third of the appointed members of the University of Maryland Medical System’s board had business deals worth hundreds of thousands of dollars each with the medical system, leading to resignations of board members and sweeping changes to the body.
The Eagle’s investigations found that Longwell steered a $524 million contract for a water treatment plant to friends and supporters, rejecting the unanimous choice of a selection panel. The reporters also uncovered a campaign smear ad that falsely connected Longwell’s opponent to sexual harassment allegations and separately found that the city has one of the loosest ethical codes for elected officials, according to the paper’s announcement of the award. Longwell lost reelection in November.
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