We are excited to share the news that our Health and Science, Local, and Well+Being desks have been recognized in two national journalism contests for their collaborative work across the newsroom. Our project, “Dying Early: America’s Life Expectancy Crisis,” received the National Headliner First Place Award for News Series in Daily Newspapers. The judges praised the series for challenging conventional wisdom and shedding light on the impact of chronic diseases on Americans’ life expectancy.
Through in-depth reporting and personal accounts from those affected by chronic disease, the series delved into decades of death data to reveal that chronic diseases are responsible for twice as many years of life lost as overdoses, firearm deaths, and other external causes combined. The result was an eye-opening exploration of a public health crisis that has gone unnoticed for too long.
Journalists from various teams including Audience, Audio, Copy Desk, Data, Design, Graphics, Health and Science, International, Photo, and Video worked tirelessly to document the nation’s declining life expectancy. This effort took them to 10 states