IBJ wins six national business journalism awards, including for NCAA tourney coverage

IBJ won six awards—including a gold honor for best editorial and silver honors for two of its newsletters—on Saturday night in Columbus, Ohio, during an Alliance of Area Business Publishers ceremony.

The annual AABP Editorial Excellence competition recognizes print and online writing, photography and design at regional business publications, including newspapers and magazines. IBJ competes in the largest publication category against business journals and magazines in Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, New Orleans, Dallas and other major cities.

AABP awards gold, silver and bronze honors.

IBJ’s top honor came in the “best editorial” category for an editorial headlined “Where’s the real punishment for FBI officials in Nassar case” published on July 23, 2021, and written by Managing Editor Greg Weaver.

Judges from the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism said the editorial “demands accountability from the very institute responsible for bringing criminals to account.”

“The methodical presentation of FBI missteps in the investigation of Larry Nassar is compelling and pulls no punches in arguing that several members of the FBI and the director of the Indianapolis field office bear responsibility for allowing the abuse to continue,” the panel of three judges said.

IBJ also won the following awards:

Best daily email: Silver, “Eight@8” by Mason King. The judges said that “readers of this newsletter get a concise, smartly curated roundup of Indy’s business news in their inboxes every morning. The summaries provide enough information about the top 8 stories of the day for readers to be informed, and offer links to other sources, including IBJ content for readers who want to get a deeper dive into any of the day’s news.”

Best specialty e-newsletter: Silver, “The Rundown,” written during the contest period by former IBJ reporters Leslie Bonilla Muñiz and Emily Ketterer. Weaver edits the political newsletter, which the judges said “provides a thoroughly reported insider briefing on what’s happening across the state. For readers it carries a lot of value since it makes sure they’re ‘in the know’ in a way that other people cannot access. The content is curated well and the visual presentation makes the news easy to consume.”

Best front page: Bronze, Audrey Pelsor and Sarah Ellis for the cover of IBJ’s issue on March 5, 2021. The cover included the headline “A year of fear, grief, hope, change, loss” and pictures of people who told IBJ stories about how the pandemic affected them. The judges said the page’s “palette of soft grays creates quiet impact and sets the right tone for this cover story about the effects of the pandemic. The gradually disappearing headline is a beautiful way to underscore the message. Seeing the faces of people affected amps up the emotional component.”

Best use of multimedia: Bronze for IBJ’s online presentation of “The Rebound,” coverage of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament in central Indiana in March and April of 2021. The Rebound includes stories, columns, videos, photo galleries and a slide show featuring the mascots of every team that played in the tournament. The judges said that IBJ “went all out in its reporting. … From video to audio to graphics, the great variety of multimedia elements cover the full breadth of the tournament and its economic impact on Indianapolis.”

Best podcast: Bronze, “The Freedom Forum with Angela B. Freeman,” a podcast about diversity and equity in business that is hosted by Barnes & Thornburg partner Angela B. Freeman and edited by IBJ Editor Lesley Weidenbener. “Shining a spotlight on the stories of minority business owners, ‘The Freedom Forum’ provides a valuable platform for entrepreneurs from underrepresented backgrounds and communities,” the judges said. “Host Angela B. Freeman’s easy rapport with guests helps foreground their personality, making their stories more accessible to listeners.”