Recognized for work reflecting its focus on accountability reporting as well as feature writing and photography, Baltimore Brew was honored as “News Organization of the Year” in its division by the Maryland-Delaware-DC (MDDC) Press Association.

The Brew took home three “Best of Show” awards and 21 others for reporting and photography in 2023.

Earning top honors in land use reporting, commentary and state government coverage, The Brew’s two-person newsroom was judged against submissions by the region’s major print and online news media, including The Baltimore Sun, The Baltimore Banner, Capital Gazette, (Delaware) News Journal, Baltimore Business Journal and other organizations.

MDDC members met in Annapolis on Friday to highlight “news with integrity and excellence in journalism” by recognizing the winners of the contest, which celebrates print and online work.

The contest admitted over 1,550 entries among 86 categories. There are seven divisions in the contest, which group publications into categories governed by total audience numbers, combining print and digital readership.

One “Best of Show” award is given in each category across all divisions. These entries were judged by news media professionals at the New Jersey Press Association.

Best of Show: Land Use Reporting

Led by senior reporter Mark Reutter, The Brew dug deep into the story of what is being proposed by city officials and their chosen developer for Baltimore’s Harborplace.

Residents knew the waterfront park and plaza, wildly successful after it opened in 1980, had fallen on hard times. But our photos last April showing the two retail pavilions standing largely vacant and shuttered came as a shock to many.

Even more eye-opening was our reporting on the deal the city was offering Harborplace’s new owner: rent abatement until 2026 and a three-year grace period to make final construction plans or major investment in the storied tourist attraction. Up to $1 million was also given to the developer for planning, community engagement and other needs.

The Brew continued to peel back the onion on the arrangement between the city and developer P. David Bramble to replace the pavilions with two tall towers with some 900 apartments.

We clarified for readers what was involved: legislation to remove height restrictions and alter a public park enshrined in the City Charter. And in doing so, we sharpened the lively civic debate that is still ongoing:

Will Mayor Brandon Scott’s plan revive the city’s tarnished “crown jewel”? Or privatize and deaden a cherished public space?

And what to make of the process whereby Bramble was chosen – “secretly,” Scott himself has said – to control a project estimated to require $400 million in public funding?

• The Future of Baltimore’s Harborplace

Best of Show: Local Column

Also earning top honors was a commentary by Op-Ed writer David Plymyer calling out the Baltimore Ethics Board for its redaction of the names of donors to a legal defense fund set up for City Council President Nick Mosby and his former wife and then-State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby.

The board claimed that failure to do so would have revealed information about the personal finances of the donors in violation of the Maryland Public Information Act.

Plymyer, the retired attorney for Anne Arundel County, made the case for why the decision was both legally indefensible and flew in the face of common sense, noting that some people contributing to the Mosby fund were “controlled donors,” that is, individuals who do business with the city.

“Does the ethics board really want to take the position that the pubic has no right to know who gave that much in support of two powerful elected officials?” Plymyer wrote.

Basically agreeing with Plymyer, the Maryland Public Information Act Compliance Board ordered the city to release the donors’ names, saying disclosure was “relevant to understanding who might be seeking to curry favor with powerful elected officials.”

Three months ago, however, Circuit Court Judge Fletcher-Hill overturned their ruling. The case is currently under appeal by The Brew and Baltimore Sun.

• Baltimore Ethics Board: Don’t make a mockery of Maryland’s Public Information Act

Best of Show: State Government

Damon Minor, a disabled former ironworker who received disability benefits and federal SNAP benefits, encountered a terrible problem. He discovered his Independence Card had been stripped clean by hackers.

Officials at the Maryland Department of Social Services told Minor that the same thing had happened to many others – and nothing could be done to recover his funds.

The situation put him dangerously behind in his finances, forcing him to scrimp on food and other necessities, Minor told The Brew.

Our deep dive into his plight helped us tell a story that impacted more than 3,800 people across Maryland who had experienced welfare benefit losses.

In response to our reporting, Minor got his funds fully restored and a lunch with Maryland’s new Human Services secretary. More significantly, state officials pledged to take meaningful steps to address the problem for other victims and reimburse over $2.5 million in benefits stolen by the skimmers.

• Like other victims, a former Baltimore ironworker was left on the hook after benefits theft (1/5/23)

Powerful Work

The three “Best of Show” awards represent just a fraction of our coverage recognized for excellence by MDDC, which ranged from the mass shooting at Brooklyn Homes to the outbreak of health-harming cryptosporidium in Baltimore’s water system to political machinations in Baltimore County.

Within the association’s Division E group, the following work was honored:

• Reutter won first place for investigative reporting based on his analysis of hours of scanner traffic on the night of violence at Brooklyn Homes: Police knew about guns, knives and injuries hours before mass shooting, but decided “we’re not going in the crowd” (7/7/23).

• Reutter and Shen won second place for investigative reporting for BGE is quietly pushing to control Baltimore’s underground conduit system (1/26/23).

• Reutter won first place for breaking news for Julian Jones plans to propose amendments tonight to strip away the power of Baltimore County’s inspector general (12/4/23).

• Plymyer won first place (as well as Best of Show) for local column critical thinking for Baltimore Ethics Board: Don’t make a mockery of Maryland’s Public Information Act (3/29/23).

• Reutter, Shen and freelance reporter Peder Schaefer won first place in growth & land use reporting (as well as Best of Show) for The future of Baltimore’s Harborplace (4/19/23).

• Shen won second place for general news story for Ahead of cryptosporidium finding in Druid Lake, city was told repeatedly to end open-air drinking water storage (10/2/23).

• Freelance journalist and filmmaker Sebastian Tuinder and Shen won first place for feature-driven multi-media storytelling for Baltimore’s sewage, along with farm run-off and other pollutants, are killing Chesapeake Bay (5/4/23).

• Shen won second place for feature story non-profile for When a faithful dinosaur friend goes missing (10/21/23).

• Shen won second place for the headline For Asian youth in Baltimore, a journey from embarrassed to empowered (5/23/23).

• Photographer Jennifer Bishop won first place for feature photo Setty McConville, thrilled to be performing in Baltimore-based Fluid Movement’s latest show (7/28/23).

• Photographer J.M. Giordano won first place for photo series for West Wednesday hits the 500 mark (2/26/23).

• Shen and intern Laura Fay won first place for general news story for Brother Bey, a longtime advocate for ex-offenders, was fatally injured by a care facility staffer, prosecutors say (8/21/23).

• Shen won first place state government (as well as Best of Show) for Like other victims, a former Baltimore ironworker was left on the hook for benefits theft (1/5/23).

• Shen won second place for continuing coverage for A dinosaur of a zoning dispute, the Harford Road Royal Farms case is back (9/21/23).

• Shen and Reutter won second place public service for “They put me out. I was cold. All I had on was a sweater” (1/2/23).

• Shen won first place for business reporting for Worried residents reckon with Johns Hopkins’ plan for large AI research buildings (10/30/23).

• Shen won second place general news photo for Baltimore’s Hendler Creamery Building, with Fred Shoken and Donna Beth Joy Shapiro, who hoped to save it (3/27/23).

• Shen and Reutter won second place for growth & land use reporting for “For critics decrying the state of historic preservation in Baltimore, Hendler Creamery is Exhibit A (4/10/23).

• Shen won first place for medical/science reporting for Brother Bey, a longtime advocate for ex-offenders, was fatally injured by a care facility staffer, prosecutors say (8/21/23).

• Shen won first place for educati0n reporting for For Asian youth in Baltimore, a journey from embarrassed to empowered (5/23/23).

• Intern Laura Fay won first place for arts/entertainment reporting for With good humor and a glittery fatberg, Fluid Movement brings “infrastructure ballet” to Baltimore (7/28/23).