Local Journalism is Changing the Conversation on Opioids

They produced the series in collaboration with The New York Times and Alyssa Zhu and Nick Thieme and photojournalist Jessica Gallagher led it. Their investigations provided a realistic yet compassionate examination of the entire city’s opioid overdose epidemic and also highlighted its disproportionate impact on older Black men in the community.

“Less than three years after The Banner’s launch, our team is extraordinarily honored to accept the organization’s first Pulitzer Prize,” remarked Zhu. “We are even more honored to see the information we brought to light is now helping shape new conversations, policies and programs to tackle overdoses in our city and state. There’s so much work ahead to be done.”

The team developed a sophisticated statistical model that mapped overdose patterns across Baltimore. They shared this exact model with other newsrooms which facilitated other investigative efforts in cities such as Boston, Chicago and San Francisco.

Something else that this series did was expose the systemic failures and ineffective public policies that were exacerbating the problem. The series specifically revealed a debilitating lack of access to effective addiction treatment for those who needed it most.

Banner’s commitment to hard hitting local journalism has had real, tangible impacts such as prompting policy changes and sparking up even broader conversations about looking into the opioid epidemic with a bigger sense of urgency and equity. This Pulitzer Prize really underscores the important role of local reporting and has paved the way for perhaps the next generation of reporters.

This new media outlet is dedicated to revitalizing local journalism in Baltimore and plans on continuing to demonstrate how powerful and important local news can be when it comes to fostering informed and engaged communities.