Flint, MI — Flint Beat won 15 awards from the Michigan Press Association for its 2022 coverage, including “News Media Publication of the Year,” in the local circulation category for the second year in a row.
Jiquanda Johnson, the founder and publisher of Flint Beat, said it means a lot to have her peers recognize the same talent she does.
“Our team is very talented. They produce great work daily. I know this, but it’s beautiful when your peers recognize the work. It speaks volumes when journalists who have been in the business for decades also see what I see,” she said.
This upcoming year, Johnson said the newsroom is going to invest in more enterprise reporting, in-depth pieces and more investigative work. She said the community guides stories like these.
“Flint Beat is a place where the Flint residents, Flint community matters first,” she said. “We’re part of Flint.”
Johnson said the newsroom went through significant transitions last year, but she’s excited to see where the newer team members will go.
The awards received are part of the MPA Better Newspaper Contest, which received 200 entries from nine Michigan News Media members for the 2022 contest.
“It is a rare moment in our profession where we allow ourselves to reflect and experience something akin to satisfaction for a job well done,” said Wes Smith, MPA president and group publisher of View Newspaper Group, in a MPA press release.
Here’s the full list of Flint Beat’s 2022 MPA Better Newspaper Contest awards:
- News Media Publication of the Year – Local
- Best Video Presentation
- First Place – Flint Soap Box Derby is back by Michael Indriolo
- Second Place – Music store marks 40th year on north side by Jamal Bransford, Jiquanda Johnson and Kate Stockrahm
- Third Place – Flint 360: The Flint Public Library reopens after a multi-million-dollar renovation by Andrew Roth
- Business/Agriculture News
- First Place – Flint’s own: Music Planet celebrates 40 years by Kate Stockrahm
- Feature Photo
- First Place – Flint After Dark: The city’s nightlife shows just how diverse the community is by KT Kanazawich
- Second Place – Beyond the Bricks: A photo tour of Saginaw Street by KT Kanazawich
- Feature Story
- Second Place – Meet the French-speaking hula hooper cleaning up Flint’s east side by Santiago Ochoa
- Third Place – From policing to pizza: How one Flint woman continue to serve her community after giving up the badge by Amy Diaz
- Government/Education News
- First Place – Flint City Council members ‘smell a rat’ after investigative hearing is ‘blocked’ again by Amy Diaz
- Second Place – Flint, Beecher schools among highest discipline rates for homeless students in Michigan by Carmen Nesbitt
- News Enterprise Reporting
- First Place – ‘In our hearts forever’: One family’s story in the aftermath of Flint’s rise in gun violence by Kate Stockrahm
- Second Place – Flint’s mobile COVID-19 vaccine unit scours neighborhoods to find the hard-to-reach and hesitant by Carmen Nesbitt
- Honorable Mention – When race data goes missing, how do health leaders combat COVID racial disparities in Flint? By Carmen Nesbitt
- Spot News Story
- First Place – Explosion heard for miles, house catches fire on Flint’s west side by Amy Diaz
- Second Place – Downtown Flint’s Paterson Building is condemned by Kate Stockrahm