Two Star Press reporters have been awarded one of journalism’s most prestigious honors for the Muncie newspaper’s series of articles about child abuse.
National journalism organization Sigma Delta Chi awarded Douglas Walker and Keith Roysdon first place in the organization’s Public Service Journalism category for publications with a daily circulation of less than 50,000.
Their series, “For a Child’s Sake: The Epidemic of Child Abuse,” appeared in The Star Press over a four-week period in spring 2011.
Roysdon and Walker received the award at a recent Sigma Delta Chi ceremony at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
The judges in the contest called their work “a powerful series of stories to highlight the lifelong effects on abused children” and “a game changer.”
The series also won first place awards in Indiana competitions overseen by the Society of Professional Journalists, Hoosier State Press Association Foundation and Associated Press Managing Editors.
In the series, Walker and Roysdon looked at the problem of child abuse – including the 2,000 allegations of child abuse annually in Delaware County – as well as examining the problem from the perspective of police investigators, social workers, victims and abusers.
As part of that series, Walker wrote a first-person column recalling the abuse he experienced as a child.
