P.O. Box 548, 132 Fairfield St. West, Twin Falls, ID 83303-0548 (208) 733-0931
Jan. 21, 2016 Dear Judges:
I humbly nominate the Times-News staff for the Idaho Press Club Special Coverage Award for its reporting on refugee resettlement in southern Idaho. It started with a single spot news story in April that Syrians could be among the nearly 300 refugees expected to resettle in Twin Falls this year. The story sparked a huge, immediate reaction, touching off dozens of stories and editorials – and more important, a community dialogue – that culminated in the fall with a town hall-style forum hosted by the newspaper. The panel included top federal officials overseeing refugee resettlement as well as local stakeholders. More than 700 people attended, from all corners of the state. The issue split the community and spurred the formation of groups supporting refugees and those determined to close the College of Southern Idaho Refugee Center, which has served as a support agency for refugees in the Magic Valley since the 1980s. Magic Valley lawmakers began raising questions about the local program, and opponents launched an effort for a ballot measure to close the center. Driven by questions and concerns in our community, the newspaper’s coverage has been widely read and praised – from Idaho’s congressional delegation to local coffee shop klatches. From the beginning, our approach was to educate the public about how the program worked, the people involved, and the effects on the community. That included non-traditional story approaches such as question-and-answer stories with the program’s managers to deadline stories covering open-comment sessions before the college’s board of trustees. Personal stories about refugees and their struggles to start new lives in new communities put faces to the issue. And crime stories about local acts of anti-Muslim vandalism – and the volunteers who aided the victims -- showed the public the issues’ darkest and brightest sides.