PublicSource, a nonprofit newsroom serving the Pittsburgh region, has been named as a finalist for general excellence, cross-newsroom collaboration and explanatory reporting in the 2020 Online News Association awards. The prestigious awards honor excellence in online journalism worldwide.

PublicSource is a finalist for General Excellence in Online Journalism in the micro newsrooms category (newsrooms fewer than 15 people) along with El Paso Matters, Idaho Education News and Voice of San Diego.  

Two PublicSource projects were also named finalists in separate categories. 

The Good River project, launched in November 2019 as a regional collaboration, was named a finalist for the Excellence in Collaboration and Partnerships Award. The Good River project was led by PublicSource and produced in partnership with six other nonprofit newsrooms: 100 Days in Appalachia, The Allegheny Front, Belt Magazine, Environmental Health News, Eye on Ohio and Louisville Public Media. Journalists in seven nonprofit newsrooms – spanning five of the 15 Ohio River watershed states — worked for 10 months to produce nonpartisan, engaging and stunning journalism on the watershed.

The True Cost of Court Debt was named a finalist for the Explanatory Reporting Award. The four-part series focused on issues related to court fines and fees in Allegheny County and was led by reporter Juliette Rihl. After our series was published, a team of people from Allegheny County applied to the Cities & Counties for Fine and Fee Justice program, a solution highlighted in the reporting that provides grants to communities working on reform. Allegheny County was one of 10 jurisdictions accepted into the program. 

While PublicSource does not measure its impact in awards, we recognize the importance of celebrating the work of journalists and partners who have been working with PublicSource. It’s also an opportunity to thank people who trusted our journalists with their stories and those who have been counting on us to keep the Pittsburgh region informed. 

Winners of the Online Journalism Awards will be announced at virtual awards events in October. 

PublicSource relies on donations from our readers. For those of you who support our journalism financially, thank you. And for those who don’t yet, please consider becoming a member with a donation that helps to ensure the future of local journalism in Pittsburgh.

This story was made possible by donations to our independent, nonprofit newsroom.

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We’re Pittsburgh’s Public Source. Since 2011, we’ve taken pride in serving our community by delivering accurate, timely, and impactful journalism — without paywalls. We believe that everyone deserves access to information about local decisions and events that affect them.

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