Scripps News has been nominated three times as a finalist for the 2025 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards, which honor "outstanding public service" in news reporting.
Scripps' nominations include investigations into the Flint water crisis, the 2023 mass shooting in Maine and a QAnon-aligned assistant police chief in Millersville, Tennessee. Read more and watch each of the pieces below:
A cost-saving decision 10 years ago created one of the more shocking public health scandals in the country — killing a dozen residents and exposing 100,000 others in Flint, Michigan, to poisonous water contaminated with lead — all while city and state officials claimed the water was safe.
When the errors were exposed more than a year later, city and state officials vowed to clean up the mess and replace the corroding pipes poisoning residents. But neither time nor tens of millions of dollars in funding — not even orders by a federal judge — have brought an end to this devastating chapter in Flint.
Scripps News has discovered dangerous lead pipes are still pumping water into at least 200 addresses, with potentially more to be found.
Maine Shooting: Missed Warnings
Eighteen people were killed when a 40-year-old Army reservist opened fire at a bowling alley and a restaurant in Lewiston, Maine. In the months prior to the shooting, the killer, Robert Card, was in a deep mental decline. He was hearing voices and becoming increasingly aggressive.
Scripps News investigated how and why he was able to carry out the shooting when more than two dozen law enforcement officials had information about his threats and access to firearms.
Scripps News Nashville: When Hate Comes to Main Street
Scripps News Nashville is nominated for its ongoing series that has investigated white supremacist ties of Gabrielle Hanson, a mayoral candidate in Franklin, Tennessee, and investigated Shawn Taylor, the QAnon-aligned assistant police chief in Millersville, Tennessee.
The investigation was led by NewsChannel 5 chief investigative reporter Phil Williams and photojournalist Bryan Staples, along with photojournalist Bob Stinnett and producer Kevin Wisniewski. Also assisting were photojournalists Don Blommel, Devin Crawford, James Garbee and Catherine Steward. Digital producer Emily West contributed to the reporting.
This year's DuPont-Columbia Award winners will be announced at a ceremony at Columbia’s Low Library on Wednesday, January 22, 2025.
