BND wins top award for story about baby who died in squalid conditions

The Belleville News-Democrat won first place for investigative reporting from the Illinois Associated Press Managing Editors for its story of a baby who died while living in horrific squalor.

The story, "Sometime in the Night," was written by BND reporters Beth Hundsdorfer and George Pawlaczyk. It beat out entries by the Chicago Tribune, which came in second, and the Chicago Sun-Times, which came in third, in the category for large news organizations.

The story reported on the tragic death of a baby in New Douglas whose family lived in horrible conditions, and brought into question why state child welfare officials did nothing to prevent it.

The News-Democrat also won four second-place awards in the contest, including:

▪ Breaking News, staff, for "The day a Belleville man shot a congressman," coverage of the shooting of U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana by James Hodgkinson of Belleville.

▪ Feature Story: Beth Hundsdorfer, for "Doctor gets a big lift on his way to heart surgery," after breaking down in East St. Louis.

▪ Enterprise Story: Mary Cooley, for "Child sex trafficking is a growing problem."

▪ Best Website, an overall award given to the staff.

The News-Democrat has come in first place in the IAPME competition in five of the past seven years.

The Chicago Tribune took first for General Excellence, and the Chicago Sun-Times won the sweepstakes award for the entry judged best in class.

The results were announced Thursday evening during an awards dinner in Bloomington-Normal.

This story was originally published June 8, 2018 at 11:19 AM with the headline "BND wins top award for story about baby who died in squalid conditions."