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Breaking Barriers Award

2025 Nonprofit News Awards

Honors reporting that brought new understanding to an issue or topic affecting people or communities that are historically underrepresented, disadvantaged or marginalized — and resulted in impactful change.

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Breaking Barriers Award – Micro division

The Objective

The Editor of a New York City Newspaper Bullied Reporters for Years. Then, He Was Promoted. by Alexis Allison

Stories of toxic bosses who churn through staff don’t often get pulled from whisper networks and exposed in an in-depth investigative news story — especially when the villain is a news editor. But The Objective rejected that norm. Over two years, the publication spoke with nine reporters about their experiences working with an editor accused of bullying young journalists, especially women, for years. After the Objective published its report, Michael Hinman was suspended from his position as executive editor at Herald Community Newspapers pending an internal review. Then his name was no longer listed on the publication’s staff page, and the Herald published a job posting for an executive editor that included the requirement to “develop your direct reports into effective coaches,” The Objective reported.

Judges praised the impact of The Objective’s reporting and how the outlet tackled an underreported issue. One judge raved about the storytelling: “The narrative is compelling. I love how naturally it flows, like reading a book, and how it carries a personal stake as well.”

Read the Winning Work

The editor of a New York City newspaper bullied reporters for years. Then, he was promoted.

New York editor no longer employed following Objective investigation

Finalist

Breaking Barriers Award – Small division

Charlottesville Tomorrow

Giving More People a Say in Affordable Housing in Central Virginia by Erin O’Hare

Local reporting by Charlottesville Tomorrow highlighted how the sale of a mobile home park can exacerbate housing insecurity and turn people’s lives upside down. As the mobile home parks disappear, “so does the low-cost housing they provide,” O’Hare wrote. “Mobile and manufactured homes are the largest source of non-subsidized affordable housing in the United States,” according to the U.S. Office of Housing and Urban Development.

O’Hare’s reporting also addressed issues of developers demolishing lower-cost units for luxury homes and challenges of affordable senior living. The coverage also included a resource guide with information about affordable housing and programs that can help with issues such as leaky roofs and eviction programs.

“The depth of this coverage, and the way the community came together in response, shows that Charlottesville Today is embedded in place and with people in a way that’s changing the city,” a judge wrote. “This story pulled to top place in my mind because of the strong model it provides for other news organizations to follow.”

Read the Winning Work

Carlton Mobile Home Park residents fear losing their homes as news arrives that the park will be sold

Habitat for Humanity will buy Carlton Mobile Home Park

Residents are being kicked out of one of the area’s most affordable apartment complexes to make way for luxury units 

After years of struggling, seniors at Midway Manor get refreshed living space 

Housing Resources Guide

Finalists

Breaking Barriers Award – Medium division

El Tímpano

Poisoned Pipes and Painted Walls: Oakland’s Pervasive Lead Problem by Jasmine Aguilera, Cassandra Garibay, Hiram Duran

Most rental houses in Oakland, California, likely contain lead-based paint. That’s true even though in 2014, the city and Alameda County were allocated about $24 million in combined settlement money that could be used for remediation. El Tímpano journalists spent four months investigating why little has been done to address the issue and pushing for answers to questions about what has happened with the money. 

Journalists also engaged community members by sending text message callouts, organizing library information booths, and going door-to-door. El Tímpano reporters and UC Berkeley’s East Bay Academy of Young Scientists hosted a community workshop to educate residents about lead exposure and offer free soil testing. 

That focus on community engagement and education boosted the project’s impact, one judge said. “Plus, this approach of working with the community to continue coverage and be … a watchdog is an original way to do the work of local news,” a judge said.

Read the Winning Work

Poisoned pipes and painted walls: Oakland’s pervasive lead problem

Finalist

Breaking Barriers Award – Large division

The 74

Unwelcome to America by Jo Napolitano

Over 16 months, Jo Napolitano called more than 600 high schools in every state and Washington, D.C., posing as the aunt of a 19-year-old new arrival from Venezuela and attempting to register him. The undercover investigation revealed some ugly truths about how schools handle such requests, often wrongfully — and potentially illegally — denying access to a high school education.

Napolitano’s reporting is an “extraordinary example of persistent, methodical, and deeply researched reporting,” one judge said. “The level of detail revealed multiple layers of problems, including the inconsistency of answers from people within the same district and school. I am impressed with both the quality of the journalism and its real-world impact.”

The project also included an explainer of Napolitano’s methodology and how The 74 weighed ethical questions about having the journalist go undercover to get the story. That content “was essential to the entire package by adding context and transparency,” a judge wrote.

Read the Winning Work

Hundreds of U.S. High Schools Wrongfully Refused Entry to Older, Immigrant Student

Older Immigrant Students Say High School Admission Bettered Their Lives in U.S.

From New Mexico to Michigan, States Take Action After 74 Investigation Reveals Rampant Enrollment Discrimination

Oakland Enrolls — and Graduates — Older, Immigrant Students Many Districts Deny

Unwelcome to America: How We Did the Story

Finalists

2025 Nonprofit News Awards

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