2022 Online Journalism Awards winners include The Boston Globe, LAist, The Trace and Mission Local

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 24, 2022 — Outstanding coverage of the climate crisis, data privacy, caregiving in the pandemic and Germany’s historical reckoning were among the winners honored in the 2022 Online Journalism Awards—the Online News Association’s annual global showcase of journalism excellence and digital innovation.

Winners were announced throughout the 2022 Online News Association Conference (ONA22), Sept. 21–24 in Los Angeles. The weeklong celebration culminated in a lively and inspiring evening, Sept. 24, hosted by comedian Dana Goldberg.

Letterhead provided support for the 2022 OJAs reception, while Andscape sponsored the banquet and awards ceremony.

As part of this year’s awards showcase, ONA also previously announced the 2022 recipients of four awards bestowed by special committees on individuals or small groups. Honorees included:

Six categories in the 2022 OJAs come with a total of $57,000 in prize money. Mission Local, The Trace, LAist and Boston Globe each received $5,000 as winners for General Excellence in Online Journalism, supported by SmartNews. Propublica and The Washington Post won the University of Florida Award for Investigative Data Journalism. Winners will each receive a $7,500 prize and an expenses-paid trip to Florida to lead full-day workshops.

New this year, the 3M Truth in Science Award honors a single story that demonstrates excellence in science journalism to educate and engage audiences while combating misinformation. The $3,500 prize went to Vox Media in the Small/Medium Newsroom category, and to Palm Beach Post and ProPublica in the Large Newsroom category.

The Trace and Southern California Public Radio (KPCC/LAist) were named winners for the Gather Award in Community-Centered Journalism. Each received $2,500 in prize money thanks to the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communications.

The 2022 Knight Award for Public Service—with a $5,000 prize supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation—honored Nashville Public Radio’s WPLN News and ProPublica for a year-long investigation of the juvenile justice system in Rutherford County. The Topical Reporting: Climate Change award, with a $5,000 prize courtesy of McKinsey Publishing went to Los Angeles Times, for a series on the consequences of extreme heat.

In addition to the science journalism honor, ONA added two other categories to this year’s lineup. The Colorado Sun, The Philadelphia Inquirer and VICE World News were named winners for Excellence in Social Media Engagement. The award for Topical Reporting: Olympics and Paralympics Coverage went to FYT Media and the Phillippine Center for Investigative Journalism, Vox Media and The New York Times.

Here is the full list of the 2022 Online Journalism Awards winners in 23 categories that were open for submissions:

• The Boston Globe

• LAist

• The Trace

• Mission Local

• Black Snow: Big Sugar’s Burning Problem, Palm Beach Post, ProPublica

• How American conservatives turned against the vaccine, Vox Media

• Russia’s War On Ukraine, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

• Breaking News: Uvalde School Shooting, The Texas Tribune

• De-Escalate: The story of an intense protest on an Atlanta interstate, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

• Greywater, The New Yorker

• The Healing Kitchen, South China Morning Post

• A Feast for Lost Souls, The Atavist Magazine

• Transnational, VICE World News

• Extremism in America, Retro Report, The WNET Group

• How the .001% Use Retirement Accounts as Tax-Free Piggy Banks, ProPublica

• Inside the Apocalyptic Worldview of ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight,’ The New York Times

• Mapping where the earth will become uninhabitable, FUNKE Zentralredaktion – Interaktiv

• For you, Portugal, I swear!, Divergente

• Un(re)solved, FRONTLINE

• The Facebook Files Podcasts, The Wall Street Journal

• Making Sense: How sound becomes hearing, Vox Media

• “No Light. No Nothing.” Inside Louisiana’s Harshest Juvenile Lockup, The Marshall Project, NBC News, ProPublica

• Un(re)solved, FRONTLINE, Ado Ato Pictures

• Black and Latino Tennessee Voices newsletters, The Tennessean

• Bulletin: Les bonne infos (The good news), Bulletin

• The stench of death: On Canada’s Highway of Tears, Al Jazeera Digital

• Inaccessible Cities, AJ Contrast, Al Jazeera Digital

• VICE World News TikTok, VICE World News

• The Philadelphia Inquirer Italian Hoagie Bracket, The Philadelphia Inquirer

• Marshall Fire coverage, The Colorado Sun

• Ukraine Invasion, The Washington Post

• The Secret IRS Files, ProPublica

• Germany’s historical reckoning is a warning for the U.S., Coda Story

• The Badge and The Cross, Associated Press

• Hell at Abbey Gate, ProPublica, Alive in Afghanistan

• Road to Ruin, Grist, CoastAlaska, Earthrise Media, The Pulitzer Center

• Caring for children in the pandemic, Southern California Public Radio

• Up The Block, The Trace

• Black Children Were Jailed for a Crime That Doesn’t Exist. Almost Nothing Happened to the Adults in Charge, Nashville Public Radio’s WPLN News, ProPublica

• Postcards From a World on Fire, The New York Times

• Future of the summer games, The Washington Post

• A pickle(ball) in paradise, NJ Advance Media

• Aloha ʻāina, The NewHouse School at Syracuse University, The NewsHouse

• Printing Hate, Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland

• The Pegasus Project: A global investigation, The Washington Post, The Guardian US, Forbidden Stories

• The Secretive Prisons That Keep Migrants Out of Europe, The Outlaw Ocean Project, The New Yorker

• The Spy Tech That Followed Kids Home, The 74

• Extreme heat’s deadly toll, Los Angeles Times

• Visualizing the Athleticism of the Olympics, The New York Times

• Vox Video: Winter Sports Week, Vox Media

• Anatomy of Philippines’ first Olympic gold medal,  FYT Media, Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism

• The COVID housing crisis, Center for Public Integrity, Associated Press

• Rising up in the heartland: Latino workers fight for pandemic relief, Univision News Digital

• Police Misconduct, The Washington Post

• Sacrifice Zones: Mapping Cancer-Causing Industrial Air Pollution, ProPublica