The Information Honored with Five ‘Best in Business’ Journalism Awards

I just shared this note with our staff at The Information. Congratulations to all the journalists doing such incredible work. And thank you to our subscribers for supporting us.—Jessica

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Team,

The Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing (SABEW) has awarded their 2023 awards, and we cleaned up! For those who count such things, we were in second place with total wins (5) behind the New York Times. And what is so amazing to me is, once again, we won across so many categories. Make no mistake: The Information leads across business coverage broadly.

A huge congratulations to The Information's winners (Full list here.)

• Michael Roddan in Banking/Finance for banking fakes and scams
• Erin Woo, Anissa Gardizy, Aaron Holmes, Amir Efrati, Jon Victor, Stephanie Palazzolo, Kate Clark and Cory Weinberg for OpenAI breaking coverage in Breaking News: 
• Cory Weinberg, Maria Heeter and Becky Peterson in Investing/Markets for IPO Drama 
• Kate Clark for Dealmaker (AI Fever) in Newsletters
• Maria Heeter, Ann Gehan, Nick Wingfield and Theo Wayt in Travel/Transportation for Convoy coverage

Honorable mention in the Feature category

•  Theo Wayt for Amazon's After Dark Delivery Dangers
•  Becky Peterson for Google's Darkest Days

In reading the comments on each recognition, I am struck by how many times we were cited for our strong sourcing and clear and concise writing as well as being, and I quote "ahead of competitors in spotting, breaking and explaining an important business story."  I've pasted the judges' notes below as they really speak to what makes our journalism excellent.

And a very big thank you to Martin and all the editors for the submissions which take weeks of work. We do this all without award consultants or huge teams. Your journalism speaks for itself.

Thank you and onward!

Jessica

Winner – The Information; Banking Fakes and Scams
The Information’s Michael Roddan produced an outstanding package of stories, including his revelation that a top U.S. banking and fintech regulator faked his employment history and educational background on his resume. Roddan also found that U.S. regulators forced a small bank in Iowa to stop taking on new customers for its partnership with a Venmo-like app that served 2 million people. His story showed how small banks that join with fintechs in search of exponential growth often fail to ensure compliance with regulations. Finally, he detailed compliance lapses at a fintech firm in which JPMorgan Chase invested. These stories offer penetrating insights into the weaknesses of banking and fintech regulation.

Winner – The Information; Convoy Goes Off the Road
The judges have chosen The Information’s “Convoy Goes Off Road” as the winner in the travel/transportation category. The package of scoop and analysis showed a deep understanding of the logistics industry as well as the risks inherent when the tech industry attempts to disrupt legacy businesses with cutting-edge tech.

The Information was well-prepared for Convoy’s demise. It not only broke news on the company’s attempt to find a buyer but was able to quickly turn around a deep dive on the topic while the story was still fresh. The articles themselves were clear and well written, with a pleasing layout and helpful graphics.

The reporters were also able to put this company’s struggles into the broader context of a pandemic-driven boom in e-commerce that saw billions of dollars invested in the sector and adjacent industries.

These stories were also followed by major media outlets, including the WSJ, underscoring how The Information was a step ahead of its competitors in spotting, breaking and explaining an important business story.

Winner – The Information; OpenAI Fires Its CEO
The stories were well-sourced and provided good, real-time context for what was happening at the firm.

Winner – The Information; IPO Drama
Reporter Cory Weinberg, along with colleagues Maria Heeter and Becky Petersen, used strong sourcing with investors, bankers and company insiders to deliver three stories that capture the high stakes and tension associated with preparing for an initial public offering. The series takes readers inside the minds of stakeholders at all levels, from CEO down, to give a glimpse into the process behind what is for many companies a momentous decision. The writing was concise and straightforward, helping to propel the narrative.

Winner – The Information; Artificial Intelligence Fever
Really impressive clarity and depth of knowledge. The judges like that it’s a vehicle for news-breaking as well as smart analysis.

Honorable Mention – The Information; Amazon’s After-Dark Delivery Dangers
This harrowing story shows how American consumerism, coupled with post-pandemic paranoia and surging gun ownership, has placed Amazon gig drivers in the line of fire — literally. The details in the piece made it stand out, such as how the absence of the Amazon logo while delivering packages can prove deadly as drivers wearing street clothes use their own vehicles to male deliveries. The writer connected the dots well to inform readers about a group that many of us depend on and yet know very little about.

Honorable Mention – The Information; Google’s Darkest Days
This well-written piece offers an inside look at how Google treated their employees and what that meant for their mental health. The story goes behind employee suicides and mental anguish to show how a workplace can become toxic and what happens when anxiety that goes unnoticed reaches a tipping point. Vivid examples make clear that even Google is not immune after forcing cuts, layoffs and instability that touches its workforce and mental wellbeing. Excellent work by the reporter who had to speak with multiple people who suffered from mental health issues while at Google and ask them the tough questions — a difficult task that was done with sensitivity.

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You can read more about The Information and our work, here.