The Reporting Project staff was awarded six first-place awards and five second-place awards in the annual Society of Professional Journalists’ “Best of Ohio” contest, including an award for TRP’s Alan Miller, naming him the best writer for a digital news outlet in the state, and a first-place award for The Reporting Project’s weekly newsletter. 

The Reporting Project team entered materials created by reporters and editors throughout 2024, and included several significant stories about education, local businesses, environmental issues and ongoing challenges facing local governments and unhoused communities in Licking County. 

The Reporting Project is a nonprofit news organization staffed by the students and faculty of Denison University’s Journalism Program, and its stories about people, places and events in Licking County are available free online. They also are available free to other news organizations that wish to publish them, so Reporting Project stories regularly appear in publications across the region.

“We set high standards for our journalism and have found a very appreciative audience in Licking County, where news consumers are hungry for more news about what’s happening in their community,” said Alan Miller, a TRP reporter and editor. “At the same time we are providing this journalistic community service, we also are providing our students with real-world experience and tangible evidence of their work.”

First place awards

TRP reporter Tyler Thompson and former TRP writers Torria Catrone and Sarah Wuellner earned a first-place award for business reporting on businesses like the Newark Roll-A-Way Skating Center, West Church Social and Jolly Pirate Donuts. 

“The details, dialogue and snappy quotes on all three stories made these pieces enjoyable reads,” judges offered in comments. 

TRP Reporter Ella Diehl and former TRP reporters Sarah Sollinger and Ellie Owen earned a first-place award for education reporting, covering important issues like the ongoing bus driver shortage, a Newark middle school principal placed on leave and one school district’s creative approach to environmental education. 

Sollinger and former TRP reporter Annie Kennedy also earned a first-place award for feature writing on their stories about beekeepers in Licking County and the first woman to fly around the world. 

“There were so many excellent entries in this contest, but I am giving first place to this series of work because it was the most captivating and the most fun to read,” judges wrote about the stories. “I feel like they really got to the heart of the story and presented it in the best way possible. This was the clear-cut winner in my opinion. An outstanding body of work!”

Former TRP reporter Noah Fishman earned a first-place government reporting award for his dedicated coverage of Newark’s controversial “public camping” ordinance that spurred weeks of public comment and civic engagement. 

Miller, a founding member of The Reporting Project, earned a coveted “best of show” award, and was named the best digital news writer in Ohio, and the weekly newsletter assembled by TRP Managing Editor Julia Lerner earned the best newsletter award. 

Second place awards

Former TRP reporter and student editor Andrew Theophilus earned a second-place “Best of Show” award, and was named among the best still photographers in the state. 

Theophilus and current TRP reporter Daniela Gomez Vargas, alongside Miller and TRP founding member Jack Shuler, earned a second-place award for medical, science and healthcare reporting for their coverage of environmental issues like water health, drought and invasive plants. 

Theophilus, alongside former TRP reporters Owen Baker and Anna Jones, also earned a second-place award for videography for their documentaries about an amateur drag-racing team, a local(ish) comedian and a Newark women’s hockey team.  

Theophilus, Sollinger and former TRP reporter Emmet Anderson also earned a second-place award for their sports and recreation coverage, including stories about a local mountain-biking destination, a Superhero Baseball game and March Madness. 

The Reporting Project’s website also earned a “Best of Show” award, and was named among the best general news sites in Ohio.