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The Indiana Lawyer won three first-place awards and IBJ won five in the Society of Professional Journalists’ Best of Indiana competition for work published in 2024.
In all, journalists for The Indiana Lawyer took home four awards, while IBJ reporters, editors and designers took home nine.
The Indiana Pro Chapter of SPJ announced the awards at a dinner Friday at 502 East Event Centre in Carmel that honored newspaper, digital, radio, television and student journalists.
The Indiana Lawyer competes in the category for digital media and newspapers with circulation under 10,000. IBJ competes in a category for larger media outlets.
The Indiana Lawyer’s Alexa Shrake won two first-place awards.
She won first place in the coverage of children category for a story about legislation related to foster children.
“Alexa Shrake unravels the complexities of reunification vs. adoption in a personal way reporting on this bill,” the category’s judge wrote.
Shrake also won first place in the election and campaign coverage category for her reporting about the attorney general’s race and Indiana Supreme Court retention votes. The judge called her work “interesting, unique and clear coverage.”
The Indiana Lawyer’s Maura Johnson won first place in the criminal justice reporting category for stories related to clearing and expunging criminal records. “This entry shows the positive impact of a Marion County Prosecutor’s Office unit that reviews claims of innocence and wrongful convictions and efforts by Indiana counties and outside entities to help Hoosiers expunge criminal records and reinstate their driver’s license,” the judge wrote.
The Indiana Lawyer’s Daniel Carson won third place in the coverage of social justice issues category for several immigration stories.
The Lawyer also was part of a loose consortium of media organizations that shared SPJ’s First Amendment Award for their cooperation in covering the murder trial of Richard Allen, who was convicted of killing two teenagers in Delphi.
IBJ took first and second place in SPJ’s business and consumer affairs reporting category.
Health care reporter John Russell, who retired from full-time journalism in January, took top honors in the category for an entry that included stories about Eli Lilly and Co.’s stock price, an activist investor at Elanco Animal Health and health savings accounts as investments, among others.
Real estate reporter Mickey Shuey finished second in the category on the strength of stories that analyzed WWE’s deal to bring several events to Indianapolis, SK Hynix’s decision to build a plant in West Lafayette and the Hogsett administration’s move to end negotiations with Keystone Group over development plans at the Diamond Chain site.
“There was a strong range of stories in this category, from scrutinizing deals and developments through an accountability lens to showcasing businesses with lively details that provided an enjoyable sense of place,” a judge wrote about the category entries. “In the end, the clarity of John Russell’s writing and the power of his explanatory approach to covering business news and trends that impact Indiana residents took first.”
Arts, retail and entertainment reporter Dave Lindquist won first place in the coverage of race and diversity issues for stories about the importance of Black culture during the NBA’s All-Star Weekend, the development of a rock festival focused on Black musicians and the launch of a Black theater company, among others.
The category’s judge wrote that Lindquist’s stories represented “innovative and refreshing reporting about Black culture.”
IBJ’s chief designer, Audrey Pelsor, won first place in the page 1 newspaper category, for covers highlighting stories about Lilly, Tyrese Haliburton and the summer concert season.
Pelsor also won second place in the magazine cover design category for the cover of The Block, IBJ’s special publication about the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials that took place last summer in Indianapolis.
Designer Sarah Ellis won the graphics and illustrations category for a tick-tock graphic about a day in the life of Noblesville Mayor Chris Jensen.
Ellis also won second place in a category for news designs other than the front page for the inside of IBJ’s Executive Gift Guide.
IBJ’s Derek Schultz won first place in the sports column writing category for an entry that included columns about a wiffle ball league and the National Hot Rod Association.
IBJ Engagement Editor Mason King won second place in the podcast category for an entry that included podcasts about Josef Newgarden’s investing strategy, a jewelry store owner’s decision to close his shop and the city’s efforts to cobble together land to build a soccer stadium.
In addition to awards in reporting, design, television and radio categories, SPJ hands out several special awards each year. The winners included:
- Story of the Year: “Out of options” by Mary Claire Molloy and Jenna Watson, Mirror Indy
- Journalist of the Year: Casey Smith, Indiana Capital Chronicle
- A-Mark Prize for Investigative Journalism: “Out of options” by Mary Claire Molloy and Jenna Watson, Mirror Indy, first place
- Slaymaker Service to Journalism Award: Cyndee Hebert, WTHR
- Student Journalist of the Year: Wil Courtney, Purdue University
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