CNS | Philip Merrill College of Journalism

CNS Record 2001

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A team of reporters from the spring 2001 bureaus in Washington and Annapolis combined to produce "Many Faces, One Maryland," which used 2000 Census data to identify and profile some of the state's most ethnically diverse communities. The series won first-place nationally for in-depth reporting in the Society of Professional Journalists' Mark of Excellence Awards.

Jennifer Dorroh was a finalist in the Investigative Reporters and Editors national Investigative Reporting Awards for students for her story, "Bar None." The computer-assisted analysis of state liquor citations found that fewer than 10 percent of Maryland businesses that sold alcohol to minors had their liquor licenses suspended or revoked, with most paying a small fine or less.

Maya Jackson’s database reporting showed that smaller counties sent more people to prison, per capita, than much larger counties -- with one midsize county putting more people behind bars, total, than the state's biggest county. Her story, Small Time, won first place in the Maryland State Bar Association's 2002 Gavel Awards competition.

Melanie Starkey's coverage of the scene in and around the U.S. Capitol in the first hours of the Sept. 11 attacks won 14th place nationally for spot news coverage in the Hearst Journalism Awards program.

Nashiah Ahmad reported how a General Assembly that hoped to reform education ended by killing nearly every education-reform bill. She also reported on the hectic life of a student school board member.

Robert Patrick looked at enforcement of hate crimes laws around Maryland and found that it varied widely in the state.

Eric Kelderman revealed that much of prospective 2002 gubernatorial candidate Kathleen Kennedy Townsend’s campaign cash came from outside Maryland. He also covered the move by Maryland to standardize the state’s voting technology.

Kristyn Peck profiled a high school student struggling with her own desire to more fully embrace her Islamic faith and her parents' worries that she try to fit in more, in a school with few other Muslim students. The story won a third-place award for feature writing in Region 2 of the Society of Professional Journalists' Mark of Excellence Awards.

Jennifer Larson showed that if inventiveness is a measure of success, then Maryland is edging out Virginia in their high-tech business rivalry, winning won more patents in the first quarter of 2001 than much-larger Virginia.

Laurent Thomet showed how property crime follows population with his computer-assisted reporting project on car thefts, which were on the rise in small, but growing, towns in Maryland.

Paul Schuler made a friend of Bryan Murtha, a Department of Energy worker, and wrote about Murtha’s passionate penchant for unplugging from the electrical system.

Megan Scott wrote about the severe nursing shortage in Maryland and chronicled the difficult job nurses have to do. She also showed how difficult it is to be a nurse in the tuberculosis ward, and how TB is making a comeback among the state's immigrant and black populations.