NCDJ Annual Contest

Winners announced for National Center on Disability and Journalism 2025 awards

The National Center on Disability and Journalism is announcing the winners of the 2025 Katherine Schneider Journalism Award for Excellence in Reporting on Disability and the Gary Corcoran Student Prize for Excellence in Reporting on Disability.

The awards recognize outstanding reporting that illuminates the stores of disabled individuals worldwide, and the Schneider and Corcoran prizes are the only journalism contests devoted exclusively to the coverage of people with disabilities and disability issues.

“Journalists in the U.S. are exploring and explaining issues facing the disabled community like never before,” said Dr. Battinto L. Batts, Jr., Dean of Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. “We are grateful to the benefactors who make these awards possible and to the journalists whose work makes a difference in so many lives.”

The Katherine Schneider Journalism Award for Excellence in Reporting on Disability was established in 2013 with the support of Schneider, a retired clinical psychologist who has been blind since birth and who also supports the national Schneider Family Book Awards. The Corcoran Student Award honors the life and advocacy of Gary S. Corcoran (1951-2015) a wheelchair user from the age of 19 who volunteered untold hours to help make airlines, transit and public venues in Phoenix accessible to all.

Schneider Award – Large Market

The first-place prize in the Schneider Award Large Media category was awarded to “Helpless: the future of children with autism is increasingly falling on therapists in a booming but largely unregulated industry,” by Jorge Carrasco and Anagilmara Vilchez of Noticias Telemundo. Their work examined the growing trend of registered behavioral technicians serving as ill-trained therapists to provide therapy to children with autism, with painful costs. Contributing journalists include Jose Osuna, Bruno Garcia and Eulimar Nunez.

Second place was awarded to Erika Fry of The Guardian, for her work “The hidden victims of the opioid crisis: the ones who live.” Erika’s work shines a light on an important and little-known aspect of the crisis: the substantial number of individuals who survive overdoses but live on with brain injuries.

Third place went to Meredith Kolodner and Marina Villeneuve of the Hechinger Report for their series on failures in New Jersey’s special education system. The series, co-published with NJ.com, mined data and documents to show how far the state lagged behind others in inclusionary education.

Judges awarded an honorable mention to “Dr. No: Mental health insurance denials in California” produced by Jocelyn Wiener and Byrhonda Lyons of Cal Matters.

Schneider Award – Small market

First place in the small market category goes to “Policing the Vulnerable,” work by the staff of MindSite News, Medill Investigative Lab-Chicago, Invisible Institute and South Side Weekly. Their investigation explored the effects of years of start-and-stop police reforms had on people experiencing a mental health crisis in Chicago.

Second place was awarded to Ashley Balcerzak and Jean Rimbach of NorthJersey.com for “Hidden at Home,” a year-long investigation into flaws plaguing the group-home system in New Jersey.

The third place small market winner is Maggie Dougherty, who produced “Blind mother seeks rights to care for her son,” in the Illinois Times.

"In these times when talk of equity, diversity inclusion and access is suspect in some quarters, it’s imperative to have good journalism done highlighting problems and solutions of people living with disabilities,” said Katherine Schneider. ”The NCDJ committee has chosen the best of the best. It’s my honor to sponsor these awards."

Corcoran Award

The first place Corcoran student award winner is “Between Fire and Red Tape: When disasters strike, people with disabilities are often left to fend for themselves — with deadly consequences.” The story was produced by Daniella Lake, a graduate student at the University of Southern California Annenberg School.

Second place goes to “‘Sign' of the Time: Deaf Angelenos showcase the strength of their community amid White House program cuts,” by Elizabeth Therese Carroll of University of Southern California.

The third place Corcoran winner is “Connecticut must answer for its treatment of people with disabilities” by Ashten Vassar of the University of Connecticut.

“The winners of the Gary Corcoran Student Prize demonstrate that covering disability is not a niche topic — it is essential journalism that strengthens our communities and our democracy,” said Katherine Corcoran, who started the prize to honor her brother. “By telling these stories with depth, respect, and accuracy, they honor Gary’s legacy and help ensure that people with disabilities are represented fairly and fully in the media.”

Judges for the Large Media Market category were:

Christine Herman, a freelance editor and reporting specializing in audio journalism
Kristin Gilger, professor emeritus at the Cronkite School and former director of NCDJ
Jennifer LaFleur, a professor at UC Berkeley and former senior editor at the Center for Public Integrity
Suzanne Robitaille, founder of a website that covers disability news and technology innovations
Jason Strother, a multimedia journalist and founder of Lens15 Media, a news agency and consultancy focused on disability

Judges for the Small Media Market category were:

Lauren Bavis, a faculty fellow at the Newhouse School at Syracuse
Sara Luterman, disability and aging reporter for The 19th News
Amanda Morris of the Washington Post
Jonathan Rockoff, an editor at the Wall Street Journal
Agam Shah of the Wall Street Journal

Judges for the Corcoran student awards were medical and science author Mat Edelson and Jula Metraux of Mother Jones.

Winners will discuss their work during an April 16 and ceremony in the First Amendment Forum at the Cronkite School in downtown Phoenix. The event also will be live streamed.

For previous winners, visit https://ncdj.org/contest/ncdj-contest-archive/.

Both reporting contests are administered by the National Center on Disability and Journalism at the Cronkite School.

Previous winners

2024 Katherine Schneider Journalism Award Winners:

First place in the Schneider Award Large Media category went to Amanda Morris, Caitlin Gilbert and Jacqueline Alemany of The Washington Post for a series about an obscure government program that leaves workers with disabilities making less than the federal minimum wage.
The second-place winners were Christie Thompson, Sydney Brownstone and Esmy Jimenez of The Marshall Project and The Seattle Times for an investigation exploring how a law intended to protect health care workers in Washington state has led to prosecutions of people with severe mental illness.
The ProPublica team of Annie Waldman, Duaa Eldeib, Maya Miller and Max Blau placed third for their series about the struggle that even insured people face obtaining mental health care.
An honorable mention went to Abimbola Abatta of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism for “Inclusion or Exclusion? Vignettes of Students With Disabilities in Nigerian Higher Institutions.”
In the Schneider Award Small Media category, first place honors went to Detroit Free Press reporter Lily Altavena, who investigated how schools for students with behavioral disabilities were called or were visited by law enforcement at far higher rates than traditional schools.
Natalie Eilbert of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel won second place for “The Nervous Limitation.”
Third place went to the staff of the Disability Justice Project for “Rising Tides, Raising Voices.”
Honorable mentions were awarded to Rachel Litchman of Tone Madison and Helina Selemon, Shannon Chaffers, Damaso Reyes and Noy Thrupkaew of New York Amsterdam News for their stories, respectively, about inaccessible housing and the financial toll of gun violence.

2024 Gary Corcoran Student Prize Winners:

Ella Robinson of American University placed first for “DC fails to enforce its own law, leaving wheelchair users stranded.”
Daniel Nworie of Lagos State University placed second for “Poor Inclusivity Efforts at LASU Expose Students with Albinism to Stigmatization.”
Third place went to Celeste Hamilton Dennis of the University of California, Berkeley, for “Counselors help seniors clean up, avoid eviction,” which shines a spotlight on how hoarding behavior, an often-overlooked mental health condition, can lead to evictions for vulnerable seniors.
Honorable mentions were awarded to Chelsea Casabona and Surabhi Sundaram of Columbia University for “Mettle” and Tilly Kennedy Griffiths of Stanford University for her exploration of what happens when airlines damage wheelchairs.

2023 Schneider Award Winners:

First place, large market: Beth Hundsdorfer of Capitol News Illinois and Molly Parker of Lee Enterprises Midwest, for “Culture of Cruelty.”
Second place, large market: Amanda Morris, The New York Times, “How a Visual Language Evolves as Our World Does.”
Third place, large market: Christine Herman, The Center for Public Integrity & Side Effects Public Media, “Families take drastic steps to help children in mental health crises.”
First place, small market: Caroline Ghisolfi, Tony Plohetski and Nicole Foy, the Austin American-Statesman, “Disabled & Abandoned.”
Second place, small market: John Greiner, Signal Cleveland, “Tales to Demystify: Not Welcome Here.”
Third place, small market: Jennifer Dixon, Detroit Free Press, “Rights & Wrongs.”

2023 Corcoran Prize Winners:

First place: Meagan Gillmore, Carleton University, “Too Easy to Die.”
Second place: Julia Métraux, University of California, Berkeley, “With Climate Change, Comes More Complications for People with Lupus.”
Third place: Erin Gretzinger, Christy Klein and Erin McGroarty, University of Wisconsin-Madison, “The Only Way Forward is Together.”

2022 Schneider Award Winners:

First place, large market: Heidi Blake and Katie J.M. Baker, BuzzFeed News, “Beyond Britney: Abuse, Exploitation, and Death Inside America's Guardianship Industry.”
Second place, large market: Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles Times, “Disabled moms face healthcare snubs.”
Third place, large market: Joseph Shapiro and Allison Mollenkamp, National Public Radio, “Air Travel Still a Nightmare for People with Disabilities.”
First place, small market: Karim Merhej, Kareem Chehayeb and Christina Cavalcanti, The Public Source, “And What Would You Like Me to Do About It: How the Lebanese Government Disabled Hundreds of People - And Left Them to Pay for Its Crime.”
Second place, small market: Maria Delaney, Noteworthy, “LIFT OUT.”
Third place, small market: Jennifer Szweda Jordan, Unabridged Press and All Abilities Media, “A Valid Podcast, Season 3.”

2022 Corcoran Prize Winners:

First place: Michael Garcia, Syracuse University, “The Wilderness Pill.”
Second place: Christopher Hippensteel, Syracuse University, “PA justice system fails autistic people.”
Third place: Emily Schmidt, Arizona State University, “Fading Inside: One family's battle with Alzheimer's amid the pandemic.”

2021 Schneider Award Winners:

First place, large market: William Wan, The Washington Post, “Pandemic Isolation has killed thousands of Alzheimer's patients while families watch from afar.”
Second place, large market: Hannah Dreier, The Washington Post, “What to do about Ahav?”
Third place, large market: Amy Silverman, writing for ProPublica, “People with Developmental Disabilities Were Promised Health. Instead, They Face Delays and Denials.”
First place, small market: Ayat Khiry, ARIJ Arab Investigative Network, “Falling on Deaf Ears.”
Second place, small market: Safaa Ashour, ARIJ Arab Investigative Network, “Blue, Beaten and Bruised.”
Third place, small market: Diana Mwango, Nation Media Group, “Challenges Disabled Women Face in Accessing Sexual and Reproductive Health Services.”

2020 Schneider Award Winners:

First place, large market: Jennifer Smith Richards and Jodi S. Cohen, The Chicago Tribune and ProPublica Illinois, “The Quiet Rooms.”
Second place, large market: Mike Elsen-Rooney, USA Today, “Two Boys with the Same Disability Tried to Get Help.”
Third place, large market: Joseph Shapiro, National Public Radio, “COVID-19 is a Disability Issue.”
Honorable mention, large market: Michael Schulson, Undark, “The Physics, Economics, and Politics of Wheelchairs on Planes.”
First place, small market: Shelly Conlon, Argus Leader, “Ignored: South Dakota is Failing Deaf Children.”
Second place, small market: Janine Zeitlin, The News-Press/Naples Daily News, “Forsaken.”
Third place, small market: Ed Williams, Searchlight New Mexico, “Restraint, Seclusion, Deception.”

2019 Schneider Award Winners:

First place, large market: Joaquin Sapien and Tom Jennings, ProPublica and PBS Frontline in collaboration with The New York Times, “Living Apart, Coming Undone.”
Second place, large market: Audrey Quinn, Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting, “Trapped: Abuse and neglect in private care.”
Third place, large market: Matt Kielty, Pat Walters and Lulu Miller, Radiolab,
“Unfit.”
Honorable mention, large market: Mary Jo Pitzl, The Arizona Republic, “The parents said it was a special needs bed. The state said it was a cage.”
First place, small market: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Milwaukee PBS, “You’re not alone.”
Second place, small market: Hanna Raskin, The Post and Courier of Charleston, South Carolina, “We dined with wheelchair users at 4 of Charleston’s top lunch spots. Here’s what they experienced.”
Third place, small market: Ed Williams, Searchlight New Mexico, “Criminalizing disability.”
Honorable mention, small market: Edgar Walters, The Texas Tribune, “Fighting for personal attendants at the Texas State Capitol.”

2018 Ruderman Awards for Excellence in Reporting on Disability Winners:

First place: Joseph Shapiro, Robert Little and Meg Anderson, National Public Radio, “Abused and Betrayed.”
Second place: J. David McSwane and Andrew Chavez, The Dallas Morning News, “Pain and Profit.”
Third place: Duaa Eldeib, Sandhya Kambhampati and Vignesh Ramachandran, ProPublica Illinois, “Stuck Kids.”
Honorable mention: Audrey Quinn, Aneri Pattani and Phoebe Wang, WNYC, New York public radio, “Aftereffect.”

2018 Katherine Schneider Winners:

First place: Christina Jewett, Kaiser Health News, “Nowhere to Go.”
Second place: Susannah Frame, Taylor Mirfendereski and Ryan Coe, KING Television, “Back of the Class.”
Third place: Alejandra Cancino and Odette Yousef, WBEZ Chicago Public Media, Better Government Association, “Trapped.”
Honorable mention: Kenny Salvini, New Mobility Magazine, “Flying the Unfriendly Skies.”

2017 Katherine Schneider Winners:

First place: Michael J. Berens and Patricia Callahan, Chicago Tribune, “Suffering in Secret.”
Second place: Brian M. Rosenthal, Houston Chronicle,“Denied.”
Third place: Mona Yeh, Sonya Green and Yuko Kodama, Seattle-Tacoma public radio station 91.3 KBCS, “Dorian Wants Transit Policy Toward Disabled Persons to Change.”
Honorable mention: Belo Cipriani, Bay Area Reporter, “Seeing in the Dark.”

2016 Katherine Schneider Winners:

First place: Chris Serres, Minneapolis Star Tribune, “A Matter of Dignity.”
Second place: Martin Austermuhle, WAMU public radio station, “From Institution to Inclusion.”
Third place: David Epstein, ProPublica, “The DIY Scientist, the Olympian, and the Mutated Gene.”
Honorable mention: Sonal Khetarpal, Business World of India, “Insensitive Inc.”

2015 Katherine Schneider Winners:

First place: Heather Vogell, ProPublica, “Violent and Legal: The Shocking Ways School Kids are Being Pinned Down, Isolated Against Their Will.”
Second place: Josh Kovner, Hartford Courant, “Saving Evan.”
Third place: Eric Mennel, WUNC North Carolina Public Radio, “Why Some NC Sterilization Victims Won’t Get Share Of $10 Million Fund.”

2014 Katherine Schneider Winners:

First place: Dan Barry, The New York Times, “The ‘Boys’ in the Bunkhouse.”
Second place: Kyle Hopkins and Mark Lester, Anchorage Daily News, “State of Intoxication – Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.”
Honorable mention: Erick Adler, Kansas City Star, “Denise’s Decision.”
Honorable mention: Peyton Gallovich and Melissa Yingst Huber, DHN – Deaf and Hearing Network

2013 Katherine Schneider Winners:

First place: Ryan Gabrielson, California Watch, “Broken Shield.”
Second place: Gareth Cook, The New York Times Magazine, “Autism Advantage.”
Honorable mention: Daphnée Denis and Hoda Emam, Narratively, “Playing by Ear.”
Honorable mention: Broughton Coburn, Dartmouth Alumni Magazine, “Second Chapter: A Portrait of Barry Corbet.”

2013 Katherine Schneider Finalists (presented in alphabetical order by title of entry):

David Raths, Campus Technology, “Access Denied”
Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje, San Antonio Express-News, Boarding Homes Series
Pauline Chen, The New York Times, “Disability and Discrimination at the Doctor’s Office”
Andrew Hida, Wilson Quarterly, “Follow my steps”
Michael M. Phillips, The Wall Street Journal, “For Wounded Vet, Love Pierces the Fog of War”
Alphonse Nekwa, Infobascongo.net, “Matadi: Un reconfort spirituel pour les sourds-muets”
Melissa Pritchard, Wilson Quarterly, “Still, God Helps You”
Jackie Fortier, KUNC, “Technology For Life: How Students With Disabilities Are Attending College At Record Rates”
Mark Ramirez, The Dallas Morning News, “Zach’s Journey”