Editorial Excellence: 2023 Annual Report

Our audience relies on us for thoughtful, fair, trustworthy coverage that sheds light, deepens understanding and enriches people's lives. Here are a few highlights from this year.

WBUR journalists dove into the housing crisis. WBUR's Investigations team and ProPublica, an independent, nonprofit newsroom that produces award-winning investigative journalism, found that nearly 2,300 state-funded public housing units across Massachusetts sat empty, despite more than 180,000 people on the waitlist. As a result of WBUR's reporting, state leaders launched a 90-day effort to fill those units. WBUR also forged new relationships to ensure the reporting could reach more people: The investigation was published on MassLive.com and in the Springfield Republican, and distributed on the Associated Press wire services, leading to its publication in outlets as far as Walla Walla, Washington.

WBUR has led reporting on families experiencing homelessness. Eight months before Gov. Maura Healey declared a state of emergency, WBUR uncovered how families who migrated to Massachusetts were increasingly turning to hospital emergency rooms for a safe place to sleep. NPR aired a version of the story nationally on All Things Considered. NPR often picks up WBUR reporting because of its quality and national significance.

We are staying with the story: We're shedding light on people delaying medical care because they don't have stable housing and we're examining the rising cost of providing emergency shelter. We're investigating how the youngest children in shelters are getting support, how people have been pushed out of motels used as temporary shelters and how families now have no place to go due to recent changes in state policy.

Environmental coverage continues to be a core focus for WBUR. Our noteworthy reporting includes a series on sustainable food, an examination of the effects of PFAS — toxic "forever chemicals" — on the human body and planet as well as a solution-oriented series about what people can do about climate change.

This public service journalism was deeply researched and conveyed critical issues in a way that was accessible, distinct and surprising.

The Public Media Journalists Association recognized the quality of WBUR's multimedia series "Cooked: The search for sustainable eats" in its 2023 awards. This reporting explored topics such as how food is produced and transported, if veganism is the only way forward and what Indigenous food growers know about the relationship between food, the planet and ourselves.

With our PFAS reporting, our journalists traced the chemicals through tissues, spoke with families of firefighters likely sickened from the PFAS in their protective clothing and looked at the cost and ways of removing the chemicals from water. Our stories were picked up and heard in stations across the country, another indication of their quality and national importance.

Here & Now launched a series about solutions to the problems caused by climate change. The program explored everything from how residents in Puerto Rico are building a patchwork of solar-powered microgrids — an alternative to the polluting diesel generators — to how spreading rock-dust on farms could help sequester more carbon in the soil.

WBUR's Arts and Culture reporting team continues to cover untold stories about underrepresented communities. Our annual series The Makers highlighted 10 artists of color breathing new life into Boston through music, dance and sculpture. The WBUR team selected the 2023 honorees from nearly 300 nominations from readers and listeners.

On Point, syndicated to stations across the country, continues to help us make sense of our world with deeply reported conversations. This year, the show dove into one of the defining forces of American and global politics: populism. The five-part series guided us through the genesis of populism in the United States, what it looks like around the world and whether populism can make democracies better.

WBUR continues to stand strong in its watchdog commitments. Last year, a WBUR investigation uncovered that a Massachusetts privacy law meant to protect survivors of domestic and sexual violence has instead protected perpetrators and police. As a result of our reporting, state legislators are considering changes to the law to better protect victims. WBUR successfully sued the town of Natick in order to access public records related to a police officer who sexually assaulted a colleague.

Several organizations have recognized WBUR for this investigative reporting. The coverage won first place awards from the Public Media Journalists Association, the Radio Television Digital News Association and the Press Club of Atlantic City.

See a comprehensive list of WBUR’s awards and honors.