Aspen Journalism received two awards in the Colorado Press Association’s 2023 Better News Media Contest. The awards, announced on Aug. 24 at the 146th annual CPA Annual Convention in Northglenn, honored work by Aspen Journalism freelance journalist Sarah Tory and collaborating journalist Allen Best, who is the publisher of the energy and climate newsletter Big Pivots.
First-place honor for Best Editorial Collaboration went to Allen Best for a five-part water and urban landscape series published in November and December 2023 examining the shift underway in how water is used in urban landscapes. The series was produced as the result of a months-long collaboration between Aspen Journalism and Colorado-based reporter Allen Best, who publishes the energy and climate newsletter Big Pivots. The five stories that resulted are perhaps the most thorough look at water and urban turf produced by any newsroom and are a significant achievement in reporting on a pattern shift affecting every community in the state. Subsequent to the publication of the series, Colorado lawmakers passed a bill banning the planting of new ornamental turf grass in many settings. Of the series, the judges commented that “… this series on an important subject was great, with easy-to-read writing and compelling images. Good job, and it should help get people to think about their use of a precious natural resource.” This series was also awarded 2nd place for best extended coverage in the Society of Professional Journalists Top of the Rockies contest in May 2024.
Second-place honor for Best Environmental Story, “SkiCo-funded methane-capture project no longer generates electricity,” was awarded to freelance journalist Sarah Tory writing for the Connie Harvey Environment Desk. The story uncovered a significant bit of news: A project funded by our community’s most high-profile business — the Aspen Skiing Co. — that captured methane leaking from a coal mine in the North Fork Valley and converted it into electricity was no longer generating electricity. The story she wrote, published in August of 2023 following months of research, carefully explained the engineering and science behind the project and why it no longer functions as it did when it launched. It also broke down the environmental and business strategy underlying the project, and how the entities involved plan to move forward. SkiCo’s methane-capture project had long been touted as a poster child for a corporate entity driving real-world climate solutions, with coverage from AJ as early as 2013. However, in the course of Tory’s work for AJ going back to 2021 covering efforts to mitigate methane leakage from shuttered coal mines in Coal Basin near Redstone, Tory learned that the Somerset project was no longer functioning as intended a decade after it was implemented. The story set the record straight as even after the project stopped generating electricity in 2022, numerous media stories continued to reference the project as if nothing had changed. Of the story, CPA judges wrote, “Nicely done! Great lead to pull in the average reader. Good explanation without overwhelming scientific detail. We hope there was a follow up on this important story.” The work was also awarded by Society of Professional Journalists’ 2nd place recognition for best enterprise reporting in May of this year.
Aspen Journalism is an essential source of in-depth, independent, investigative news — a watchdog for the environment, nature and community of the Roaring Fork Valley and beyond. We do not sell access to our stories to the readers or to other publications – everyone gets to read these stories for free. Help us keep it that way by donating to our nonprofit newsroom and keeping our award-winning journalists on the beat. As always, thank you for reading and supporting Aspen Journalism’s nonprofit news! See the award winning stories and series below.
First-place honor for Best Editorial Collaboration
Colorado squeezing water from urban landscapes
Like weekly haircuts for men, a regularly mowed lawn of Kentucky bluegrass was long a prerequisite for civic respectability in Colorado’s towns and cities. That expectation has begun shifting.
At Colorado River’s headwaters, questions about whether there’s enough water for lawns
How bluegrass lawns became the default for homeowners associations
The outliers in urban residential landscaping: Why these homeowners tore out their turf
Colorado River crisis looms over state’s landscape decisions
Second-place honor for Best Environmental Story
SkiCo-funded methane-capture project no longer generates electricity
Aspen Skiing Co. had provided most of the capital investment for the system, which was generating 3 megawatts of baseload power. But things didn’t turn out exactly as Caskey and the rest of the project partners had hoped,
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