June 7, 2015: Street Roots reporters Emily Green and Jake Thomas took home three first-place awards from the Society of Professional Journalists for environmental and science reporting, health reporting and general news reporting.
Green took home top honors for her report “Toxic Soldiers,” about the men and women who trained at the Army’s Fort McClellan and are now fighting for compensation for the toxic exposure they suffered. She received a second-place award in health coverage for “Ghosts of Agent Orange,” about the ongoing genetic effects of chemical use during the Vietnam War.
Thomas received top honors for his coverage of the safety net and recognition for his reporting on the Social Security payee process for poor and homeless people. Thomas spent months investigating the federal inquiry into the Portland-based payee program and the fall out from the closure of one program serving more than 1,000 qualifying individuals living in poverty.
Green joined Street Roots in November 2014 as a full-time reporter in advance of the newspaper going to weekly circulation. Thomas has been a longtime freelancer with the organization and more recently works as staff reporter at Inlander in Spokane, Wash.
This year Street Roots competed against a broad field of non-daily newspapers throughout Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska.
