The Colorado Press Association honored the staff of The Denver Post with 29 awards — including 18 first-place prizes — over the weekend, and awarded the newspaper three coveted sweepstakes wins in the General Excellence, Editorial, and Photo and Design Categories.
The sweepstakes prizes are awarded based on a news organization’s overall performance in its class, which is determined by the number of original stories published each month.
The Post won first-place awards across the newsroom, with the staff’s “The Big Payout” series — a multi-part investigation into Colorado’s federal pandemic aid — taking the top prize in the Best Public Service Project and Best Data Journalism Reporting categories, as well as second place in the Best Investigative Story Package category.
The judges considered journalism published in Colorado between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2022.
The Post’s other first-place awards included:
Best Arts & Entertainment Column Writing: Ray Rinaldi for a selection of his work
Best Business News/Feature Story: Elizabeth Hernandez for “The ins, outs and ughs of first-time homebuying in Denver”
Best Feature Story: Elise Schmelzer for “How the growing fentanyl crisis in Colorado has scarred a student, a mother, a daughter, a friend”
Best Headline Writing: Elizabeth Hernandez for “Santa Claus shortage: Colorado’s St. Nick demand is outweighing ho-ho-holiday supply”
Best Humorous Column Writing: John Wenzel for a selection of his work
Best Investigative Story Package: Kyle Newman for “Troy Pachner says “orchestrated parent campaign” led to resignation from Arapahoe basketball”
Best News Story: Conrad Swanson for “Colorado, Utah tribe worries nation’s last uranium mill is contaminating water, causing uptick in illness”
Best Opinion Writing: Megan Schrader for a selection of her work on behalf of the Denver Post Editorial Board
Best Politics Reporting: Conrad Swanson for “Lauren Boebert is part of a dangerous religious movement that threatens democracy, experts say”
Best Series or Sustained Coverage: Shelly Bradbury for her three-part series on the Twelve Tribes religious cult
Best Sports Column Writing: Sean Keeler for a selection of his work
Best Cover Design: Derek Robbins for “The Lives Lost”
Best Feature Photograph: Helen H. Richardson for “Lasso Leap”
Best Photo Slideshow/Gallery or Photo Essay: Helen H. Richardson and Patrick Traylor for “In Southern Colorado, the tarantulas are out and about — and looking for love”
Best Photography Portfolio: RJ Sangosti
Best Sports Photograph: Andy Cross for Colorado Avalanche championship
For a full list of 2022 winners, see the Colorado Press Association’s spreadsheet at tinyurl.com/CPAawards.
