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Nakkula Award Submission Deadline: March 9, 2015

Entry deadline for the 2015 Al Nakkula Award for outstanding police reporting is March 9, 2015. Late entries will not be accepted. The award is co-sponsored by the University of Colorado College of Media, Communication and Information and the Denver Press Club.

Entries should take the form of a story or series about one topic and/or event. They must be in electronic form, submitted to buffjournalism@gmail.com. Entries should include PDFs of the relevant stories or urls (if readily available to multiple judges regardless of paywall). Please also attach a cover letter of nomination, which may be from the entrant and/or his/her sponsoring publication.

The entry fee is $75 and the first-place prize is $2,000. The award is for work produced in print and/or online platforms in the United States in 2014. The winner will be invited to speak to classes at the University of Colorado College of Media, Communication and Information on Thursday, April 23, 2015 and to accept the award at the Denver Press Club’s Damon Runyon dinner on April 24, 2015. The second-place finisher will receive a certificate of merit. Sorry, this award is not for broadcast work.

The Nakkula Award is named for the late Al Nakkula, a 46-year veteran of the Rocky Mountain News, whose bulldog tenacity made him a legendary police reporter.

For questions please call Michelle P. Fulcher, 303-492-0460 or 303-809-0500.

Past Winners

2014 Winner:
“Cops, Cash, Cocaine”
Reporter Megan O’Matz and Database Editor John Maines
South Florida Sun Sentinel

2013 Winner:
“Broken Shield”
Ryan Gabrielson
Center for Investigative Reporting’s California Watch

2012 Winner:
“Both Sides of the Law”
Gina Barton
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

2011 Winner: 
Cris Barrish
The News Journal

2010 Winner:
Mark Puente
The Plain Dealer

2009 Winner:
Karyn Spencer
Omaha World-Herald

2008 Winner:
Jonathan Schuppe
The Newark Star-Ledger

2007 Winner:
Robert Rogers
The Sun

2006 Winner:
John Diedrich
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Related Stories

2005 Winner:
Amber Hunt Martin
Detroit Free Press

2004 Winner:
Del Quentin Wilber
Baltimore Sun

2003 Winner:
Stacy Finz
San Francisco Chronicle

2002 Winner:
Stephanie Warsmith
Akron Beacon Journal

2001 Winner:
Brigid O’Malley
Naples Daily News

Second Place
Vanessa Ho
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

2000 Winner:
Tom Searls
Charleston Gazette

Second Place
Dawn Hobbs
Santa Barbara News-Press

1999 Winner:
Sean Gardiner
The Florida Times-Union.

1998 Winner:
Mark Truby
The Huntington Herald-Dispatch

1997 Winner:
Andy Furillo
The Sacramento Bee

1996 Winner:
Pamela Hill
Northwest Arkansas Times

1995 Winner:
Melvin Claxton
Virgin Islands Daily News

1994 Winner:
William Hermann
The Arizona Republic

1993 Winner:
J.D. Mullane
Bucks County Courier Times

1992 Winner:
Scott Bowles
The Detroit News

1991 Winner:
Diana K. Sugg
The Sacramento Bee

Al Nakkula Award