Journal Sentinel investigations win national journalism honors

As part of its

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigations of deadly electrical fires in Milwaukee, major challenges facing the National Guard and COVID deaths among migrant workers received national recognition this week, as did a documentary explaining the dairy economic crisis. 

“Wires and Fires,” an investigation last year by reporters Raquel Rutledge, John Diedrich and Daphne Chen into how electrical code violations and fatal fires are rampant in the city’s poorest neighborhoods, received a first-place award from Investigative Reporters and Editors. 

The series found that suspected electrical fires ravaged rental units in Milwaukee’s most impoverished neighborhoods at five times the rate of the rest of the city. A master electrician hired by the Journal Sentinel to inspect homes found numerous electrical problems.

The judges wrote: “The project explored how powerful business interests, particularly landlords and developers, had weakened laws that would have better protected tenants from dying in fires at rental properties.” 


Posted

in

by

Tags:

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *