Coverage of the catastrophic 2022 Weaver Fertilizer fire in Winston-Salem earned Prof. Lisa Sorg–a Journalism Program adjunct faculty teaching Introduction to Journalism this fall–first-place honors in deadline reporting at the Green Eyeshade Awards. Sorg is an environmental investigative reporter at NC Newsline, a digital nonprofit newsroom based in Raleigh. She covers environmental issues statewide.

Her series of stories examined the environmental justice issues facing the neighborhoods near the plant, where 6,000 residents were evacuated. The articles also examined the legal loopholes that allowed the company to store 600 tons of ignitable ammonium oxide in a wooden building without sprinklers.

Sorg also won second place in investigative reporting for multiple stories about the NC Office of Recovery and Resiliency’s mishandling and negligence in running the hurricane disaster recovery program.

The Society of Professional Journalists’ Green Eyeshade Awards honor the best journalism in the 11 states of the Southeast. To read more about the awards and Prof. Sorg’s work, please click here.