Three members of the Tucson Sentinel’s newsroom are finalists for journalism awards from the Institute for Nonprofits News — Natalie Robbins and Dylan Smith for investigative reporting, and Paul Ingram for photojournalism.
The trio were recognized for their 2023 work by the national organization of more than 450 nonprofit, nonpartisan public-service newsrooms around the country, including the Sentinel. The finalists were announced Friday.
Robbins, the Creative Community Solutions reporter at the Sentinel, and Smith, the Editor & Co-Publisher, broke the news last year that the Pima County Sheriff’s Department failed to notify the family of a dead inmate for more than two months after his passing.
INN’s Best Investigative Journalism Award “honors a single story or series that uncovered significant and
impactful news based on the reporters’ own investigation and which
advances and serves the public interest.”
The family of 22-year-old Caleb Kenowski spent months trying to find him — posting on social media, calling law enforcement agencies, even hiring a private detective.
In early August last year, as part of the Sentinel’s years-long look into the dangerous jail, Robbins found Kenowski’s autopsy report in a stack of other documents provided by the Medical Examiner.
Kenowski’s identity had not been released to the press or public, because his family had not been notified. Robbins swiftly determined that his family had no idea he had died months before.
While the Sheriff’s Department had been unable to track them down, she and Smith located his family online within moments. They had continued to make social media appeals for information about him.
While county officials are reviewing whether to demolish the jail and construct an entirely new one, or remodel the current facility, the Sentinel continued to press for information about the situation behind bars, resulting in a three-part extensive investigative series by Robbins. “Fatal Consequences” was published last week after more than a year of reporting.
Following the report on Kenowski, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department and Tucson Police Department revamped their handling of missing persons reports, sharing more information more quickly to try to stem cases falling through bureaucratic cracks. The sheriff also agreed that in cases in which next of kin have not been located weeks after an in-custody death, providing names to the press could mean families that were not otherwise found might be reached.
Robbins spent last summer in the Sentinel newsroom as a reporting fellow from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at City University of New York. The Tucson native continued to investigate the jail as she finished her studies, and was hired in June as a full-time member of the Sentinel’s newsroom.
“I’m honored to be considered for an award like this at the beginning of my career,” she said. “Seeing the impact that local journalism can have on one family’s life has reminded me of its importance — especially at a time when the industry is struggling.”
“It’s important to keep doing what we’re doing — and the outcome of this story shows the importance of trusting your instincts about what to dig into,” Robbins said.
Smith, who has won numerous awards for accountability journalism, said “It’s very humbling to be recognized for this sort of work by INN, considering the organization’s roots in uplifting investigative reporting.”
“This piece came together very quickly — barely more than a day passed between Natalie Robbins reading that Medical Examiner’s report and our publishing the news story. But it was the months of background reporting that Natalie had already done, and the several years of our previous digging and reporting on the jail situation, that laid the groundwork for it.”
“This story showed the need for both the Sentinel team’s long-term commitment to stories, and the ability of our reporters to put together complex stories in a clear way in a very short time,” he said.
Also recognized as a finalist was Royal Calkins of Voices of Monterey Bay (Calif.), for other jail and law enforcement reporting.
Ingram, the Sentinel’s senior reporter, was named a finalist for the Insight Award for Visual Journalism for his work on “Barrier in the Borderlands: Photographs from the U.S.-Mexico line in Southern Arizona.”
INN’s photo award “honors a single story or a series of stories that uses photography
and/or other visual media to more accurately portray a community that
has traditionally been underrepresented or misrepresented in news media.” Among Ingram’s work that was recognized were reports about No More Deaths volunteers evacuating migrants from “dire” cold as Christmas neared in the remote Arizona desert, and hundreds of migrants waiting to be picked up by border officials after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.
“I’m thrilled to see my work is among the final choices for the INN Network’s awards,” he said. “For the last decade, I’ve covered the Borderlands, and this work relies on trust given to us by hundreds of people, including migrants and aid workers.”
“This is an important time for good reporting on the border — which is so often misunderstood and misrepresented — and I’m very pleased to see INN acknowledge our coverage of the complex and evolving situation here.”
Ingram puts thousands of miles on his truck every year, driving to remote stretches of the Southern Arizona desert to capture compelling images and interview migrants from around
the world as they cross the border. He shoots photographs in the wind and rain, the sleet of the desert winter and summer heat that scorches eyeballs and plays havoc with gear, providing Sentinel readers with dynamic images that reinforce the impact of his written enterprise and investigative reporting.
As a Tucson native, he understands the stakes of border issues much more deeply than the national press who parachute in for a day or two. Ingram’s a steady presence at the border, respected by activist groups and border officials alike, and he quickly gains the trust of migrants, who rely on him to tell and show their often painful stories with sensitivity and respect.
Also named as finalists in the visual journalism category were journalists from the Atlanta Community Press Collective, Sierra Nevada Ally, and the JOLT (Washington state).
Ingram, other Sentinel journalists honored by AAN
Last month, Ingram was named as the top beat reporter in the nation by AAN Publishers, a national organization of alternative news outlets.
The judge in the beat reporting category said Ingram’s work was
“great on-the-ground coverage of the border and immigration. The stories
illuminate the issue from several angles, bearing witness to migrants’
suffering holding officials accountable. Ingram’s photos add to the
impact.”
Blake Morlock was among four finalists as a political columnist for his “What the Devil Won’t Tell You” writing on local issues, taking second place in the national competition.
Daniel Shailer, who spent last summer in the Sentinel newsroom on a
fellowship from the Columbia School of
Journalism, was recognized for his environmental reporting, especially for his stories on South32’s plans for a mine in the Patagonia Mountains
south of Tucson. The United Kingdom native was awarded third place in the AAN Awards.
Sentinel Co-Publisher Maria Coxon-Smith, who edited many of the pieces recognized by INN and AAN, said that they “are just a slice of the amazing work our newsroom does every day for Tucson.”
“We’ve got some of the most experienced journalists in town — in Paul and Dylan, Blake and Jim Ninztel, who’ve all won so many awards — but these recent awards also honor the Sentinel’s deep investment in mentoring early-career reporters. We’re committed to growing the future of journalism, and to see reporters like Natalie and Daniel — in their first year in a newsroom — with national awards that stand them next to reporters from around the country with decades of experience is very gratifying for our whole team,” she said.
“The Sentinel’s building something to last for years to come, and our journalism doesn’t just capture national awards, but it’s deeply meaningful for our community,” Coxon-Smith said.
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