Banner named Pulitzer finalist for reporting on Baltimore’s school transit failures

The Banner is a Pulitzer Prize finalist in local reporting for an investigation that used a first-of-its-kind data analysis to show that unreliable public transit makes it nearly impossible for city students to get to school on time.

The nearly three-year project by Liz Bowie, Greg Morton, Allan James Vestal and Ryan Little mapped thousands of student trips and tracked Maryland Transit Administration buses in real time, showing that transportation barriers undermine school choice, contribute to chronic absenteeism and create inequities when it comes to access to reliable transportation.

The multipart series examined how long, unpredictable commutes affect as many as 25,000 Baltimore City students.

“We found that a whole generation of students was cheated out of a full education and, in some cases, out of a future because the bus didn’t come,” said Bowie, an education reporter.

The project was steered by education editor Rachel Cieri Mull, with support from visuals director Ariel Zambelich and photographer Kaitlin Newman, as well as contributions from journalists across The Banner’s newsroom.

The work combined extensive public records requests, original data engineering and on-the-ground reporting involving students, families, educators and transit officials. It also explored potential solutions — challenging assumptions about school transportation in Baltimore and elevating the issue among city and state leaders.

“We took a lot of time and care to make sure we were able to go beyond the anecdotal and prove that systemic issues, and not just personal choices, have a tremendous impact on student outcomes,” said Morton, The Banner’s data editor.

Audrey Cooper, The Banner’s editor-in-chief, said the investigative series took something all Baltimoreans know to be true and proved it with data: The schools here fail to give all students an equal shot at success because of “the district’s reliance on a flawed public transit system.”

“And then it went even further to show that real solutions exist and are within reach,” Cooper said. “We’ve been overwhelmed at the response from our industry peers but especially gratified to see the community response, showing yet again that quality journalism can unite communities around critical issues.”

It is the second year in a row that The Banner has been recognized by the Pulitzer board.

The Banner, which launched in June 2022, won the Pulitzer for local reporting last year for its groundbreaking investigation into Baltimore’s opioid overdose crisis. In addition to being a 2025 Pulitzer Prize finalist, The Banner has received the following awards for the school transit project:

• The Philip Meyer Journalism Award from Investigative Reporters and Editors, which recognizes the best use of social science research methods in journalism
• The Punch Sulzberger Prize for Innovation in Journalism from the Poynter Institute
• A National Headliner Award for online investigative reporting

During a Champagne toast after the award was announced, Bowie credited the entire newsroom.

“The fact that we have gotten to this podium twice in two years really is just a testament to the incredible, exceptional talent that we have,” Bowie said.

The Banner is a nonprofit newsroom launched with the goal of serving Baltimore and all of Maryland. It has about 80,000 subscribers and a newsroom of nearly 100 journalists.

The Banner’s parent organization, the Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, recently acquired the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in a move that staved off the newspaper’s closure.

Stewart Bainum Jr., The Banner’s founder, did not disclose the cost of the acquisition.

Bainum started The Banner with a $50 million commitment in 2022. The purchase of the Post-Gazette is part of an additional $30 million pledge Bainum intends to give to the institute over the next five years or until the organization breaks even, he said.