Arizona Reporters Win Socially Conscious Award For Vast Investigation Of Education Tax Credit

The Sidney Hillman Foundation has announced the winners for its third monthly Sidney Award for Social Justice Journalism.

Ryan Gabrielson and Michelle Reese of The East Valley Tribune in Phoenix, Ariz. have picked up the $500 prize this month for their 10,000 word series on the widespread abuse of a tax credit intended to widen access to private education in Arizona.

The two reporters found, among many, many other things, that abuse of the tax credit system has cost the state $350 million so far and the state’s ability to deliver public services has been impacted.

In April, Gabrielson won different award for his work at the Tribune: the Pulitzer prize, which he shared with colleague Paul Giblin, who had been downsized by the paper before the honor was announced.

The Tribune‘s financial struggles were not lost of Hillman Foundation judge Charles Kaiser. “Although the newspaper has significantly shrunk its staff, it is heartening that the Tribune remains willing to devote so much time and so much space to such an important story,” Kaiser noted in yesterday’s award announcement.

Earlier: Matt Taibbi’s Goldman Sachs Article Wins Socially Conscious Prize

(Photos via the Sidney Foundation)

–by Greg Wasserstrom

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