D&C recognized in Collier government accountability contest for Buffalo blizzard reporting

From staff reports

The Democrat and Chronicle has won third place in the 2024 Collier Prize for State Government Accountability for our coverage of the potent Buffalo snowstorm that killed nearly 50 people 16 months ago.

Honored was “Abandoned,” which reported on government shortcomings before and during the December 2022 blizzard. Based on a review of thousands of pages of documents and numerous interviews, the July 2023 story is told through a narrative about a young woman named Anndel Taylor, who was trapped and died in her car.

The story was reported and written by New York state health reporter David Robinson and Wilmington, Delaware-based features and business reporter Matthew Korfhage. The reporters will split the $2,500 third-place prize.

Earning first prize were The Texas Tribune, ProPublica and FRONTLINE “for their reporting on the tragic mishandling of the active-shooter situation at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, 2022,” stated a Collier Prize news release.

Public Health Watch and several partner organizations won second place for “Toxic Texas Air.”

More: How Buffalo’s catastrophic storm response failed a woman in life, then in death

Wanda Brown Steele wears a shirt with the last text messages she received from her daughter, Anndel Taylor, who died from carbon monoxide poisoning while she was trapped in the car on the side of the road during a blizzard near Buffalo, New York.
Wanda Brown Steele wears a shirt with the last text messages she received from her daughter, Anndel Taylor, who died from carbon monoxide poisoning while she was trapped in the car on the side of the road during a blizzard near Buffalo, New York.

“The Collier Prize, now in its fifth year, is one of the largest journalism awards and is designed to encourage coverage of state government, focusing on investigative and political reporting,” states a Collier Prize news release. “Offered by the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications (UFCJC) and funded by Nathan S. Collier, the prize will be presented at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner on April 27.”

“It is very gratifying to honor this important and impactful investigative journalism at the state level,” said Nathan Collier, who founded and funds the five-year-old Collier Awards program. “This is precisely the reason I wanted to fund this award, to incent this kind of critical coverage, which, we hope, will ensure continued accountability for state lawmakers.”

“The stories from these news outlets, as well as from all Collier Prize entrants, validate the need for continued scrutiny of state government activity,” said University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Dean Hub Brown. “We are grateful to Nathan Collier for providing the funding to recognize this magnificent journalism, particularly as many news organizations are forced to pull back from state government reporting.”

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Collier Prize for State Government Accountability: D&C story honored

Advertisement