Baltimore Banner wins Pulitzer Prize for coverage of overdose crisis

Three Banner journalists spearheaded the project in collaboration with the New York Times

The Baltimore Banner was awarded the Pulitzer Prize on Monday for groundbreaking local journalism that exposed Baltimore as the deadliest large city in the nation for drug overdoses, calling attention to a crisis that has unfolded as government officials paid little attention to the problem and treatment centers were poorly regulated.

The three Banner journalists spearheading the project – reporter Alissa Zhu, photojournalist Jessica Gallagher, and data specialist Nick Thieme — worked for nearly two years. They pieced together chilling patterns from reams of previously shielded records, and hit the streets to tell the stories of those addicted to opioids and those who’ve lost family and friends. The project was done in collaboration with The New York Times Local Investigations Fellowship.