The Banner wins Best News Organization of 2025 at MDDC Press Association awards

The Banner was named News Organization of the Year by the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association for the third year in a row.

The honor was one of about 60 MDDC awards received by The Banner, a nonprofit, multiplatform news operation serving Greater Baltimore and Maryland.

The Banner won 15 Best in Show overall awards, 20 first-place awards among large news organizations and 23 second-place awards.

The winners included education reporter Liz Bowie and data editors Greg Morton, Ryan Little and Allan James Vestal for their reporting on the public transit woes that Baltimore students face getting to school. The investigation won top honors for both investigative reporting and news-driven multimedia storytelling. The multipart series, which has received several national awards, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in local reporting on Monday.

Last year, The Banner won a Pulitzer Prize in the local reporting category for its groundbreaking investigation into Baltimore’s opioid overdose crisis, a series produced in partnership with The New York Times. The Banner launched in 2022.

Courts reporter Dylan Segelbaum received MDDC’s Public Service Award for his series on the lack of safeguards in the state’s district court commissioner system.

The MDDC Press Association received more than 1,594 entries among 86 categories, according to a news release from the group. There are six divisions in the contest, which groups member publications into categories based on total audience. A Best in Show award is given for each category among the first-place winners of each division.

The panel of judges included news media professionals at the Florida Press Association.

Here’s a roundup of The Banner’s recognitions for outstanding journalism, advertising programs and dynamic events:

Honors

• News Organization of the Year (Division A)
• James S. Keat Freedom of Information Award, for its breadth of reporting using public records and data – The Baltimore Banner

Best in Show

• General News Photo – Jerry Jackson, ‘Justice for the fruit man’: Hundreds rally for arabber fatally shot by Baltimore police
• Local Column: Feature or Humor – Rick Hutzell, AWOL Andy wants me fired! Voters want a town hall.
• Advertising Campaign – Staff, Proudly local, uniquely High’s
• Online-only Ad – Staff, Holidays taste better with High’s
• Photo Series – Jessica Gallagher, In Baltimore’s ‘hope desert,’ mass overdoses overshadow residents’ struggle for survival
• Editorial/Blog Video – Stokely Baksh and Tim Prudente, Inside the crab hustle
• Feature Photo – Ulysses Muñoz, Naval Academy graduation
• Multimedia Storytelling (Sports) – Paul Mancano, No one has ever achieved this Camden Yards feat during a game. What will it take?
• Special Niche Website – Staff, The Banner’s 2025 holiday gift guide
• General Social Media Reporting – Giacomo Bologna and Krishna Sharma, The housing hustle igniting a foreclosure crisis in Baltimore
• Continuing Coverage Video – Giacomo Bologna and Krishna Sharma, The housing hustle igniting a foreclosure crisis in Baltimore
• Spot News Video – Jerry Jackson and Stokely Baksh, Three-alarm fire in Remington
• Investigative Reporting – Liz Bowie, Greg Morton, Ryan Little and Allan James Vestal, Transit nightmare: Thousands of Baltimore kids can’t get to school on time
• News-driven Multimedia Storytelling – Liz Bowie, Greg Morton, Ryan Little and Allan James Vestal, Transit nightmare: Thousands of Baltimore kids can’t get to school on time
• Multimedia Ad – Sarah Walton, Barney Kirby, Sarah Walton and Glenford Nunez, What if The Banner weren’t here?

First Place

• New Business Concept/Wild Card – Events Staff, BannerX
• Best Event – Events Staff, iMPACT Maryland
• Self-Promotion Advertising – Staff, The Banner 2H Campaign
• Breaking News-Social Media – Staff, Justin Tucker Investigation
• Best Use of Interactive Media – Liz Bowie, Greg Morton and Allan James Vestal, School buses for every Baltimore student seemed impossible — until now
• Public Service – Dylan Segelbaum, Court commissioner series
• Business Reporting – Hallie Miller, Giacomo Bologna and Sahana Jayaraman, The housing hustle igniting a foreclosure crisis in Baltimore
• Medical/Science Reporting – Meredith Cohn, Hopkins trailblazer scrambles to protect cancer research as Trump cuts hit home
• Education Reporting - Liz Bowie, How a MAGA school board takeover roiled an Eastern Shore county
• Environmental Reporting – Alex Mann, Anne Arundel County has 533 miles of shoreline. One mile is for public swimming.
• Growth & Land Use Reporting – Sapna Bansil, Why is there a landfill on protected Maryland parkland?
• Public Notice Reporting – Hallie Miller, Dylan Segelbaum and Greg Morton, Chasen Cos. bankruptcy reporting
• Feature Story: Non-Profile – Tim Prudente, Odyssey of the crab: Inside the 1,100-mile network feeding Maryland’s frenzy
• Features-driven Multimedia Storytelling – Alex Mann, Wesley Lapointe and Ariel Zambelich, Anne Arundel County has 533 miles of shoreline. One mile is for public swimming.
• Sports Feature Story – Sapna Bansil, Bryson Butterfly was a rising star jockey. Then he was arrested for murder.
• Breaking News Photo – Wesley Lapointe, Firefighters contain 4-alarm Remington building fire that displaced over 20 people
• Sports Photo (Sports Action) – Ulysses Muñoz, Gunnar Henderson forces out Toronto Blue Jays first baseman
• General News Video – Kristen Griffith, Calvert County is in the throes of a conservative takeover of its schools
• Sports Video – Paul Mancano, No one has ever achieved this Camden Yards feat during a game. What will it take?
• Special Event Video – Paul Mancano, Maryland Hunt Cup