The Marshall Project has been nominated for three 2020 National Magazine Awards, which honor excellence in print and digital media, by the American Society of Magazine Editors. The Marshall Project is a finalist in the “General Excellence” (News, Sports and Entertainment) category for the fourth year in a row, the “Digital Innovation” category for “Detained,” and the “Website” category, which The Marshall Project won in 2019.
“Detained,” a multimedia immersive from Emily Kassie published in partnership with the Guardian in September, explores how a system designed to process new arrivals swelled from holding a little more than 2,000 people in 1979 to detaining over 52,000 people in a network of federal and private prisons and county jails today. Blending video, data visualization, interactivity and text in a compelling design, “Detained” takes viewers on a 40-year journey that begins with a makeshift response to a humanitarian crisis, and ends with the emergence of the world’s largest immigrant detention system.
Our submissions for Best Website and General Excellence showcased the breadth of our work in 2019, highlights of which include our feature on a veteran’s struggle with the traumatic brain injury he suffered while incarcerated, our data analysis of local crime rates and undocumented populations busting the myth that undocumented immigrants drive crime, our exposé on gangs running a Mississippi prison, and an interactive primer on 2020 Democratic candidates’ positions on key criminal justice issues. A highlight of 2019 was also the launch of News Inside, a print magazine designed for incarcerated readers, to tackle the country’s largest news desert—the one behind bars.
The Washington Post Magazine was also nominated for a National Magazine Award in the Single-Topic Issue category for their “Prison” issue, which was written, illustrated and photographed by currently and formerly incarcerated Americans. The Marshall Project partnered with The Washington Post Magazine on John J. Lennon’s contribution to the issue, “What I Think About When I Think About Freedom.”
The American Society of Magazine Editors will celebrate the 55th annual presentation of the Ellie Awards and honor the 112 finalists on Thursday, March 12th in Brooklyn. See a list of all of this year’s nominations for the National Magazine Awards.
