On Saturday, Oct. 26, the Daily Lobo won four awards for investigative, news and opinion writing at the New Mexico Press Association Better Newspaper Contest.
All awards were a part of the Weekly Class II category, which encapsulates weekly newspapers throughout New Mexico that have a circulation of less than 6,000.
The Daily Lobo won first and second place for investigative reporting. The awards were for coverage on the University of New Mexico Police Department’s lack of body cameras, as well as coverage on UNM's noncompliance with a federal crime transparency law. Both stories were written by now-editors Lily Alexander and Lauren Lifke.
Two-article series “No body-cam footage from UNMPD” and “NMSUPD uses body-cameras; UNMPD doesn't” won first place for investigative journalism. The articles uncovered, through public records requests, that UNMPD did not mandate officers to wear body cameras, despite a state statute that requires them for law enforcement agencies.
Members of the Nevada Press Association judged the NMPA awards.
“A solid exploration of the effects of problematic legislation,” they wrote about the body camera series.
The Daily Lobo was awarded second place for investigative reporting in its Clery Act series, which consists of articles “UNM is noncompliant with crime transparency law” and “UNM releases annual crime statistic report.” The series detailed UNM’s failure to abide by the federal Clery Act through missing crime data and a nonexistent LoboAlert.
“Thorough summation of crime statistics on campus, and the gaps in those statistics,” judges wrote.
The Daily Lobo also won second place for news writing for the first Clery Act article.
“Important topic and useful for students and the community with school safety such a prevalent topic in recent years,” judges wrote.
The Daily Lobo won second place in the editorial category for Alexander’s opinion piece titled “Campus protest coverage is impossible without student journalists.” The article highlights student journalists' role in covering nationwide campus protest movements.
“Embedded journalism always best, especially in a day when so much reporting is done remotely,” judges wrote.
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Nate Bernard is the news editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on X @natebernard14
