2001 Batten Award Winners
2001 Batten Awards Honor Civic Turnaround Efforts
Deep Community Work Sparks Results
Washington, DC, March 26, 2001 — – The Huntington Herald-Dispatch and West Virginia Public Broadcasting swept the 2001 Batten Awards for Excellence in Civic Journalism for ambitious and interactive coverage of the single biggest issue in the state – its future without coal – and the creation of a groundbreaking database of how coal severance taxes are used.
Their “West Virginia After Coal” partnership joined two newspaper runners-up: The Eagle-Tribune in Lawrence, Massachusetts, and the Chronicle-Tribune in Marion, Indiana. Both launched courageous examinations of their deeply troubled communities that have sparked encouraging turnaround efforts.