This article was updated on Monday, May 6 to reflect announcements from Friday’s awards program.
MoCo360 staff received 13 awards this week in the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association’s annual contest.
Daily and weekly newspapers and online news organizations in the region compete in several divisions in the annual MDDC contest. MoCo360 is in the online-only division.
The contest was for MDDC members’ work published in 2023. In each category, first and second prizes are awarded. The press association announced the award winners on YouTube on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
MoCo360 won seven first-place awards and five second-place awards.
The winners are:
- Breaking News: Former education reporter Em Espey won first prize for their story on Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School’s response to two unconscious students found in the school bathroom.
- General News Story: Espey also won first prize for their story on a Bethesda carjacking.
- Continuing Coverage: Politics and enterprise reporter Ginny Bixby, contributing editor Louis Peck, former county government reporter Steve Bohnel and former public safety reporter Courtney Cohn shared a second prize for reporting on the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee and its process for appointing General Assembly members.
- Investigative Reporting: Bixby won second prize for her story on a event led by a pastor with white supremacist ties, while Espey won first for their dive into the Montgomery County Public Schools opt-out discussions of last summer.
- Local Government: MoCo360 swept another category: education and growth reporter Elia Griffin took second for coverage of Rockville’s ballot troubles and Bixby took first for a feature on Montgomery County Councilmember Kristin Mink.
- State Government: Bohnel won first prize for a data-driven look at the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee.
- Medical/Science Reporting: Bixby claimed another first prize for her reporting into the struggles trans residents face finding healthcare in the county.
- Education Reporting: Espey snagged second prize for another B-CC story, this time an insight into the school’s “bathroom culture.”
- Arts/Entertainment Reporting: Former lifestyle reporter Akira Kyles won second prize for a look at a local restaurant’s perseverance and Uyghur cuisine.
- Public Notice Reporting: Kyles also won first prize for her story on Chevy Chase residents highlighting the burial ground for enslaved people beneath their community. This win included a Best of Show award, presented to just one winner in the category across all divisions.
- Diversity-Equity & Inclusion: Griffin won first place for her October story on the future of MCPS high schools that are named after enslavers.
More information about the MDDC awards can be found on the press association’s YouTube channel. On Friday, MoCo360 team members will attend the association’s conference for panel discussions, networking and an in-person awards ceremony.