Recognizing the levels of meritorious excellence in journalism.

This week, we once again recognize the exalted performances seen in our journalism industry and compile a list of worthy submissions to the Pulitzer Prize board in numerous categories.

Distinguished Commentary

— Philip Bump, The Washington Post

In his recent piece, Mr. Bump detailed that a recent report from The Treasury Department mentioned how the polling information from the Trump campaign in 2016 found its way into the hands of Russian intelligence. The columnist explained, energetically, how this finally makes the firm connection between the Trump campaign and Russian interests, filling in gaps seen in the Mueller Report and finally proving Russian collusion.

Mr. Bump was able to link up all of these details, despite his own column stating 

‘’It’s important to note that there is 1) no evidence at this point that Trump knew about the sharing of that information or 2) that Russia did much with the information it obtained. There were targeted ads from Russian actors during the campaign, but there remains no good evidence that those ads were targeted with insider information (much less well-targeted in general) nor that they had much of an effect.’’

It takes an adroit mind to look over all of that disqualifying evidence and still find the core of the story.

Distinguished Investigative Reporting

— Maura Judkis, The Washington Post

In the intrepid work of covering the First Dogs, Judkis has shown a certain tenacity on the topic (place your choice of metaphor here.) With Major Biden having been spirited away for some training, following a pair of episodes of displayed aggression, Maura remains on the case. She approached the trainer working with Major but she met a surprising dose of resistance — the trainer says he had to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement.

Undeterred, Judkis questioned a member of the German Shepherd Dog Club of America, and then spoke with another dog trainer in Delaware, as well as the President of the Delaware Humane Association from where Major was adopted. She was not to be halted in her mission, and will likely continue. The Goldwater Rule prohibits mental health professionals from diagnosing presidents from afar,’’ she informs us. ‘’It does not, however, apply to their pets. And so we must respectfully ask: What’s the deal with Major Biden?

Distinguished Local Reporting

— Jason Nguyen, KTVX Channel 4-Utah

This local muckraker got to the bottom of a breaking story in direct fashion. Nguyen went to the front door of a local paramedic to confront him directly about a troubling incident he was engaged in recently. The paramedic, in cowardly fashion, refused to speak to Nguyen when confronted at his home.

The gripping report concerns a data breach that occurred at a crowdfunding website (some would call it a hack) and it was revealed the local paramedic dared to make a donation to the defense fund of Kyle Rittenhouse, the Illinois youth who was involved in a shooting in Kenosha Wisconsin. Nguyen used the information from that data hack to confront the paramedic over his troubling donation…of $10.00. As he reports about the affair, the paramedic ‘’will not be placed on administrative leave during this investigation. It’s not clear how long that will take.

Paramedic Craig Shepherd reportedly donated to Rittenhouse's fund shortly after he was arrested for shooting and killing two people in Kenosha, Wisconsin. ABC4's Jason Nguyen News went to Shepherd's home to get his side of the story. https://t.co/2y5qLQ1Zry

— ABC4 News (@abc4utah) April 17, 2021

Distinguished National Reporting

— Jura Konicus, The Washington Post

There is a crisis at the border, and at times it seems there is a question of who is really running things in the administration. President Biden has said that the Vice President is taking point on the border situation (something that appeared to be in some dispute), but she has been occupied with other serious concerns, such as obtaining vital snack items. Amid the tumult, The Washington Post is on the case of other serious matters.

‘’The new Vice President is a crocheter.’’

There are numerous ways this is a cultural movement. On International Women’s Day, a crocheted mural of VP Harris was unveiled, and a special hand-dyed yarn has been created in her honor! ‘’When Vice President Harris visited a woman-owned yarn shop in Alexandria last month, she mentioned a little-known fact about herself that left the fiber arts community a bit giddy.’’ This might be an understatement. Says one shop owner, “Knowing that the vice president is a crocheter gives me street cred.”

Distinguished Feature Writing

— Carron J. Phillips, Deadspin

Proving that sports journalism can be just as incisive and thorough as standard journalism (ahem), Phillips reveals his insight in looking into the recent announcement that the NBA champions Los Angeles Lakers will not be visiting the White House. ‘’The ramifications of Donald Trump’s time in the Oval Office are still affecting American traditions.’’ So, yes — it is all Trump’s fault.

Now sure, many will say ‘’HUH?!’’, and some may point to the news reports saying this was due to scheduling and Covid protocol restrictions, but Philips is able to see clearly on this matter. Sure, athletes like Lebron James and Steph Curry, and coach Steve Kerr made pronouncements about their desire to not attend a White House celebration, it is Trump’s fault that the tradition had been impacted. And it still is his fault, now that the approved President is in office and they still will not make a White House appearance.