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Irish Daily Mirror
02-08-2025
- Irish Daily Mirror
'Despair is this morning draped like dark bunting over Barefield'
Despair is this morning draped like ominous, dark bunting over the Clare village of Barefield. The reverberations of the gun shots which ended the lives of Vanessa Whyte and her teenage children, James and Sara Rutledge, 150 miles away in Fermanagh echo in a haunting, incomprehensible volley across the 45-year-old's home place. Even under the July sunshine, Barefield is a place without light, the mood, to borrow from a 1950s Deep South preacher describing the climate of horror during that decade of serial Mississippi lynchings, blacker than a thousand midnights. A family wiped out, endless hopes and dreams expunged, heartbeats stilled in the heartbeat it takes to squeeze a cold trigger. The flag of decency flies at half-mast. Parents, lost for words, hug tightly to their offspring. Vanessa had studied veterinary medicine, a woman with a vocational urge to bring compassion into the world of struggling creatures, to ease their distress. Vanessa Whyte, pictured here wearing a Clare GAA jersey, alongside her children Sara Rutledge and James Rutledge (Image: The Police Service of Northern Ireland) For many years she was a camogie player, most vibrantly alive when she stepped onto a rectangle of grass, hurl in hand, and felt that exhilarating dopamine rush of sporting combat course through the entirety of her being. Her sense of place is self-evident in a beautiful photograph of James, Sara and herself attending a Clare hurling match, most likely one of the games on their run to 2024 All-Ireland glory, a milestone clinched a year to the week before the brutal tragedy. Vanessa stands between her two children, a protective, affectionate arm draped around each of their shoulders. The three of them, pillars supporting the others' lives. A portico of love. All are uniformed in The Banner's saffron and gold colours. Sara wears a Clare training top, her flowing mane held back by one of the headbands which are a fashion item on big match days. James, smiling blissfully, is blanketed by a county flag. Vanessa's county jersey, a badge of identity, is proudly on display beneath an unzipped sleeveless jacket. Though her eyes are hidden beneath sunglasses, her pride and maternal affection are strikingly evident in every pixel. Two decades living outside Clare, but the fire of place still burning at her core. Forever a daughter of the Banner. And though her children were affiliated with GAA clubs in Fermanagh, that they inherited their mother's passion for that beautiful Atlantic county of her birth is self-evident. Vanessa Whyte and her children, Sara (13) and James (14), on the big screen at Croke Park ahead of All-Ireland football final The picture is a sunburst of joy, a chorus of togetherness. It is the music of a family song. An idyllic scene that summons the words of the writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez, "the time when they loved each other best, without hurry or excess." A snapshot that teems with life, yet, this morning, unimaginably, none of the photograph's trio of carefree figures breathe. A hailstorm of death rained down on Maguiresbridge, hard by Enniskillen, on Thursday. The narrow street of our understanding struggles to simultaneously accommodate these two truths - the vitality bursting from the match day freezeframe and the monstrous ending which leaves its three subjects with suddenly stilled hearts. At such moments, the world becomes a sentence without grammar, baffling, opaque, beyond comprehension. Earlier this week, I spoke to my friend Mick Galwey, the beloved former Munster and Ireland rugby player. A Kerryman imbued with the dust of the land that formed him (and a teenage All-Ireland winner under Mick O'Dwyer in 1986), our conversation centred around tomorrow's Croke Park showpiece, the mesmeric David Clifford front and centre of our chat. Hearses carrying the three coffins. (Image: Justin Kernoghan) Mick, a man of emotional depth, speaks with powerful empathy about the sudden death of his friend and teammate Anthony Foley. "Axel" was just 42 and coaching Munster when, without warning, his heart ran out of juice in the autumn of 2016. Galwey had been best man at Foley's wedding. Seven years between them, but they were tight. Like an elder and younger brother. Just a week before his death, Foley had driven straight from a match to Mick's 50th birthday party. "Not a bother on him. In mighty form. A week later he was dead. It took me to a very dark place. You are wondering 'what is this about?' "It was devastating and terrifying to realise you can be laughing and joking and seemingly in full health one day and then, bang, it is all over. Christ." Though the circumstances are very different, the surge of emotion that floored a warrior giant as he accompanied his friend's body home, the cortege driving past their old Thomond Park stomping ground to find the streets lined by thousands, the footpaths wet with tears, will, I suspect, resonate with those closest to Vanessa. The three are to be buried in Ennis, Co. Clare, on Saturday. (Image: Jonathan Porter/PressEye) A huddle of broken family and friends, poor souls who must be adrift in the heaviest fog of grief and bewilderment. Galwey's memories, though stark, poetically express the human impulse to draw strength from the deepest bonds: "You are broken hearted, I mean broken hearted, but you want to grab the guy next to you and say, I don't know, say, 'I love you.'" Sport - notably, hurling - is an essential thread in the fabric of Barefield, a means for a small place to maintain its identity, even as the tentacles of the nearby big town, Ennis, sink deeper and deeper into its heartland. Jamesie O'Connor, the 1997 Hurler of the Year, a totemic figure on Ger Loughnane's class of 1995, the one that ended Clare's 81 year wait for an All-Ireland, hurled for the local club, St Joseph's Doora-Barefield. His brother Christy, the long-time St Joseph's goalkeeper and a decorated sports writer, penned an evocative, award-winning tome about a year in the life of the village centrepiece, a communion of people that was such a part of Veronica's life. Titled "The Club", the book is set against the backdrop of two tragedies in the parish and reveals the central role - supportive, cathartic, practical, distracting, vital - the local GAA branch plays at times of stygian struggle. Vanessa's father, Joe, played on St. Joseph's first ever county hurling winning team in 1954. Her brothers, Steve and Ivor, hurled alongside Jamesie and Christy. It is a familiar tale. Among the more affecting moments of big match days at Croke Park are when tributes are paid to a recently deceased stalwart, their picture flashing up on the big screen as the PA announcer, Gerry Grogan, gives a potted history of their life of service. What gets me right in the gut is when, spontaneously, a burst of applause, gentle at first, then rising in volume yet always respectful, accompanies the brief eulogy. Most people don't personally know the deceased, but they are aware of somebody just like them in their own community. A father, a daughter, a neighbour, who, though their volunteerism or their sporting deeds, improved the lives of others. In that cameo, when applause disturbs the silence, goodness lives. As it indisputably will in Clare and Fermanagh in the days ahead, a sustaining counterpoint to the unfolding horror and disorientation that makes it hard to breathe. No mother will look at the pictures of Vanessa with James and Sara without seeing their own children and feeling the strongest protective surge of something visceral and primal wash over them. Something born in the womb. Tragedies like these are a crossword puzzle in an alien tongue. How can anybody begin to look for answers when they cannot even comprehend the clues. A year ago, on a joyous day, perhaps Vanessa and her children sang along as Tony Kelly inspired All-Ireland glory was accompanied by a deafening Croke Park chorus. "Oh my lovely rose of Clare/you're the sweetest girl I know/the queen of all the roses/and the pretty flowers that grow/you are the sunshine of my life/so beautiful and fair/and I will always love you/my lovely rose of Clare. Those words means infinitely more this morning. Barbarously difficult weeks and months stretch before those who share a bloodline with Vanessa, James and Sara. They will know the profound truth in Mick Galwey's description of broken hearts, in the elemental need to hold somebody close and tell them, with tears filling their eyes and unbearable hurt stabbing at their soul, they are loved.
Washington Post
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Kimi Yoshino, founding Baltimore Banner editor-in-chief, joins The Washington Post as Managing Editor
The Washington Post today announced the addition of Kimi Yoshino as Managing Editor overseeing Features, Sports, Local, Investigations and Data. Yoshino is joining The Post from The Baltimore Banner, where she currently serves as founding editor-in-chief. In the three and a half years of her leadership, The Banner has evolved into the largest newsroom in the state, with paid subscribers in every Maryland county. Earlier this month, The Banner was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for groundbreaking local journalism that exposed Baltimore as the deadliest large city in the nation for drug overdoses.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Central High graduate Alissa Zhu wins Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Central High School graduate Alissa Zhu has earned what's widely regarded as the highest honor in journalism. Zhu, a 2011 CHS alumna, was part of the team at The Baltimore Banner awarded the Pulitzer Prize for local reporting this week, recognizing their in-depth investigation into the city's deadly opioid crisis. According to the publication, the reporting project, led by Zhu, revealed that Baltimore has the highest drug overdose rate among large U.S. cities. Their work uncovered a public health emergency that had long been overlooked — one that has taken a disproportionate toll on older Black men and was worsened by inadequate regulation and response from government leaders. Zhu and her colleagues spent nearly two years sifting through thousands of previously inaccessible public records and conducting on-the-ground reporting in some of Baltimore's hardest-hit communities. Their efforts culminated in a sweeping investigative series that not only exposed systemic failures but is now shaping public policy. 'Less than three years after The Banner's launch, our team is extraordinarily honored to accept the organization's first Pulitzer Prize,' Zhu said in a statement. 'We are even more honored to see the information we brought to light is now helping shape new conversations, policies and programs to tackle overdoses in our city and state.' The Banner's reporting began with a legal battle for transparency. In 2022, the newsroom sued Maryland's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner after it refused to release complete autopsy records. A judge ruled in the paper's favor earlier this year, opening the door to a deeper understanding of the overdose epidemic's toll. The Pulitzer Prize committee praised the work as 'a compassionate investigative series that captured the breathtaking dimensions of Baltimore's fentanyl crisis and its disproportionate impact on older Black men.' Zhu's journey from Central High School in Springfield to the national spotlight is a point of pride for the local community. She studied journalism at Northwestern University and previously reported for the Springfield News-Leader. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOLR -
Nahar Net
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Nahar Net
Pulitzers honor coverage of Gaza and Sudan wars, Trump assassination attempt
by Naharnet Newsdesk 06 May 2025, 12:49 The New York Times won four Pulitzer Prizes and the New Yorker three on Monday for journalism in 2024 that touched on topics like the fentanyl crisis, the U.S. military and last summer's assassination attempt on President Donald Trump. The Pulitzers' prestigious public service medal went to ProPublica for the second straight year. Kavitha Surana, Lizzie Presser, Cassandra Jaramillo and Stacy Kranitz were honored for reporting on pregnant women who died after doctors delayed urgent care in states with strict abortion laws. The Washington Post won for "urgent and illuminating" breaking news coverage of the Trump assassination attempt. The Pulitzers honored Ann Telnaes, who quit the Post in January after the news outlet refused to run her editorial cartoon lampooning tech chiefs — including Post owner Jeff Bezos — cozying up to Trump. The Pulitzers praised her "fearlessness." The Pulitzers honored the best in journalism from 2024 in 15 categories, along with eight arts categories including books, music and theater. The public service winner receives a gold medal. All other winners receive $15,000. The New York Times showed its breadth with awards honoring reporting from Afghanistan, Sudan, Baltimore and Butler, Pennsylvania. Doug Mills won in breaking news photography for his pictures of the Trump assassination attempt, including one that captured a bullet in the air near the GOP candidate. The Times' Azam Ahmed and Christina Goldbaum and contributing writer Matthieu Aikins won an explanatory reporting prize for examining U.S. policy failures in Afghanistan. Declan Walsh and the Times' staff won for an investigation into the Sudan conflict. A big milestone for a new local news outlet The Times was also part of a collaboration with The Baltimore Banner, whose reporters Alissa Zhu, Nick Thieme and Jessica Gallagher won in local reporting for stories on that city's fentanyl crisis and its disproportionate effect on Black men. The Banner was created three years ago, with several staffers who had left the Baltimore Sun. "This is a huge milestone for us," editor in chief Kimi Yoshino said in an interview. "I told the newsroom today that never in my wildest dreams did I think we would be here at this moment. It is a testament to the power of local news, the need for local news and what journalists can do when they focus on important stories in our community." The Banner created a statistical model that it shared with journalists in cities like Boston, Chicago and San Francisco for stories there, she said. Reuters won for its own investigative series on fentanyl, showing how lax regulation both inside and outside the United States makes the drug inexpensive and widely available. in San Diego was a finalist in the illustrated reporting and commentary category for its stories on fentanyl. The New Yorker's Mosab Abu Toha won for his commentaries on Gaza. The magazine also won for its "In the Dark" podcast about the killing of Iraqi civilians by the U.S. military and in feature photography for Moises Saman's pictures of the Sednaya prison in Syria. The Wall Street Journal won a Pulitzer for its reporting on Elon Musk, "including his turn to conservative politics, his use of legal and illegal drugs and his private conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin," the Pulitzer board said. The Journal was also a finalist for its "cool-headed" reporting on the plight of Evan Gershkovich, who was imprisoned in Russia. A special citation for a career covering civil rights The Pulitzers also gave a special citation to the late Chuck Stone for his work covering the civil rights movement. The pioneering journalist was the first Black columnist at the Philadelphia Daily News and founded the National Association of Black Journalists. Mark Warren of Esquire won the feature writing prize for his portrait of a Baptist pastor and small-town mayor who died by suicide after his secret online life was exposed by a right-wing news site. Alexandra Lange, a contributing writer for Bloomberg CityLab won an award in criticism for "graceful and genre-expanding" writing about public spaces for families. The Houston Chronicle Raj Mankad, Sharon Steinmann, Lisa Falkenberg and Leah Binkovitz won the Pulitzer in editorial writing for its series on dangerous train crossings. The Associated Press was a finalist in breaking news reporting for its own coverage of the Trump assassination attempt, and in investigative reporting for its partnership with PBS FRONTLINE and the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland and at Arizona State University for stories documenting more than 1,000 deaths at the hands of police using methods of subduing people that were supposed to be non-lethal.
The Hill
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hill
New York Times wins 4 Pulitzers, New Yorker 3; Washington Post wins for coverage of Trump shooting
NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Times won four Pulitzer Prizes and the New Yorker three on Monday for journalism in 2024 that touched on topics like the fentanyl crisis, the U.S. military and last summer's assassination attempt on President Donald Trump. The Pulitzers' prestigious public service medal went to ProPublica for the second straight year. Kavitha Surana, Lizzie Presser, Cassandra Jaramillo and Stacy Kranitz were honored for reporting on pregnant women who died after doctors delayed urgent care in states with strict abortion laws. The Washington Post won for 'urgent and illuminating' breaking news coverage of the Trump assassination attempt. The Pulitzers honored Ann Telnaes, who quit the Post in January after the news outlet refused to run her editorial cartoon lampooning tech chiefs — including Post owner Jeff Bezos — cozying up to Trump. The Pulitzers praised her 'fearlessness.' The Pulitzers honored the best in journalism from 2024 in 15 categories, along with eight arts categories including books, music and theater. The public service winner receives a gold medal. All other winners receive $15,000. The New York Times showed its breadth with awards honoring reporting from Afghanistan, Sudan, Baltimore and Butler, Pennsylvania. Doug Mills won in breaking news photography for his pictures of the Trump assassination attempt, including one that captured a bullet in the air near the GOP candidate. The Times' Azam Ahmed and Christina Goldbaum and contributing writer Matthieu Aikins won an explanatory reporting prize for examining U.S. policy failures in Afghanistan. Declan Walsh and the Times' staff won for an investigation into the Sudan conflict. A big milestone for a new local news outlet The Times was also part of a collaboration with The Baltimore Banner, whose reporters Alissa Zhu, Nick Thieme and Jessica Gallagher won in local reporting for stories on that city's fentanyl crisis and its disproportionate affect on Black men. The Banner was created three years ago, with several staffers who had left the Baltimore Sun. 'This is a huge milestone for us,' editor in chief Kimi Yoshino said in an interview. 'I told the newsroom today that never in my wildest dreams did I think we would be here at this moment. It is a testament to the power of local news, the need for local news and what journalists can do when they focus on important stories in our community.' The Banner created a statistical model that it shared with journalists in cities like Boston, Chicago and San Francisco for stories there, she said. Reuters won for its own investigative series on fentanyl, showing how lax regulation both inside and outside the United States makes the drug inexpensive and widely available. in San Diego was a finalist in the illustrated reporting and commentary category for its stories on fentanyl. The New Yorker's Mosab Abu Toha won for his commentaries on Gaza. The magazine also won for its 'In the Dark' podcast about the killing of Iraqi civilians by the U.S. military and in feature photography for Moises Saman's pictures of the Sednaya prison in Syria. The Wall Street Journal won a Pulitzer for its reporting on Elon Musk, 'including his turn to conservative politics, his use of legal and illegal drugs and his private conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin,' the Pulitzer board said. The Journal was also a finalist for its 'cool-headed' reporting on the plight of Evan Gershkovich, who was imprisoned in Russia. A special citation for a career covering civil rights The Pulitzers also gave a special citation to the late Chuck Stone for his work covering the civil rights movement. The pioneering journalist was the first Black columnist at the Philadelphia Daily News and founded the National Association of Black Journalists. Mark Warren of Esquire won the feature writing prize for his portrait of a Baptist pastor and small-town mayor who died by suicide after his secret online life was exposed by a right-wing news site. Alexandra Lange, a contributing writer for Bloomberg CityLab won an award in criticism for 'graceful and genre-expanding' writing about public spaces for families. The Houston Chronicle Raj Mankad, Sharon Steinmann, Lisa Falkenberg and Leah Binkovitz won the Pulitzer in editorial writing for its series on dangerous train crossings. The Associated Press was a finalist in breaking news reporting for its own coverage of the Trump assassination attempt, and in investigative reporting for its partnership with PBS' 'Frontline' in stories documenting more than 1,000 deaths at the hands of police using methods of subduing people that were supposed to be non-lethal.
