Idaho Education News won 15 awards, including three first-place selections, in the annual Idaho Press Club competition.
The Idaho Press Club is a statewide association of working journalists, from all media, that sponsors an annual contest to recognize the best work in Idaho.
EdNews reporter Kevin Richert won six awards — two of them first place, including the prestigious First Amendment Award in a competition that included all media.
The First Amendment Award is given for work by journalists who advance the cause of freedom of information in Idaho in the public interest.
Richert was recognized in this category for his in-depth reporting on the University of Idaho’s expensive negotiations with the University of Phoenix. To shine a light on the behind-the-scenes deal-making, Richert scoured through hundreds of pages of public records to uncover the U of I spent millions to research the purchase, with most of the money going to law firms and consultants. The biggest bills, $7.3 million, came from U of I President C. Scott Green’s previous employer.
The judge wrote: “The clear winners are the members of the public who now have more information to evaluate the costs, risks, and potential conflicts involved in this proposition.”
EdNews reporter Ryan Suppe earned second place in the First Amendment competition for his investigation into an Eagle library book challenge. He discovered the challenger had political and business ties to the city.
The judge also wrote: “Idaho Education News is putting time, money, and effort into fulfilling its watchdog role, using public records to shed light.”
Richert’s other first place award was for his extensive coverage of Idaho K-12 education’s trend to four-day school weeks. The “Four-Day Phenomenon” series received top honors in the Special Purpose Publication category.
Richert also received recognition for his blog (second place), election news podcast (second place), spot news coverage (third place) and analysis (second).
Another top winner for EdNews was reporter Carly Flandro, who dominated in the Data-Driven Journalism category, winning both first and second place with “State lowers long-term academic goals” and “Idaho’s chronic absenteeism rates may not be accurate” news stories, respectively.
The judge wrote: “Excellent investigative work that shed light on some important educational elements, caused conversations and spurred action. Both stories were incredibly thorough and had exceptional use of data visualizations.”
Flandro’s data reporting was assisted by EdNews data analyst Randy Schrader.
Flandro also earned a second-place finish for her investigation into special education challenges in Idaho.
Idaho Education News placed in a variety of other categories, including second place for the state’s best website, second place for general excellence and second place for the best newsletter.
Suppe assisted Laura Guido of the Idaho Press to finish second in education reporting on a story about Project 2025 and its connection to Idaho politics.
EdNews freelance writer Katie McGuire finished third in the best series category for her coverage of the College of Western Idaho.
Click here for a complete list of winners.