Press release from the Humboldt Journalism Project:

Ryan Burns of the Lost Coast Outpost has won the third annual “40th Award” for local journalism relevant to those who are sometimes left behind economically. Honorable mentions went to Thadeus Greenson of the North Coast Journal and Sage Alexander of the Eureka Times-Standard.

In his report “Inside Hoopa’s ‘Pill Mill’: State Medical Board, Former Employees Accuse Doctors of Over-Prescribing Opioids,” Burns digs deep into the practice of overprescribing opioids like morphine, oxycodone and diazepam at the only medical facility and pharmacy available in Hoopa. Interviews with insiders and whistle blowers reveal that doctors in Hoopa were responsible for prescribing what Burns describes as “breathtaking amounts of prescription opioids, indirectly supplying a thriving black market in diverted pills.”

“His in-depth report casts a beam of light on a long-term problem of opioid addiction in and around Hoopa,” said Deidre Pike, Humboldt Journalism Project judge. “His reporting is backed by rich, well-sourced data. His work gave me a crisper understanding of the complexity of a situation where doctors are influenced by pharmaceutical companies. He quotes sources who explain how poverty contributes to drug sales – with families who rely on the illegal sales of their prescription drugs to pay bills.”

Like Burns’ reporting, which relied in part on state government records, Greenson’s “The Soeth Files” was developed from a combination of interviews and public records. To tell the story of Humboldt County Sheriff’s Deputy Maxwell Soeth’s past, including shootings and legal settlements, Greenson turned to court records, internal affairs reports and video footage. The North Coast Journal needed public records requests and at least one lawsuit to pry loose the information.

“Studies suggest that lower-income people are both more likely to come into contact with police and more likely to experience police uses of force,” making the topic relevant for the 40th Award, Greenson wrote in his contest materials.

In the other award winning piece, the Times-Standard’s Alexander focused on the plight of mobile home residents north of Trinidad, who are struggling with repeated rent increases despite the county’ mobile home rent control law. In “To Measure V or not to Measure V,” Alexander talked with residents, advocates and county officials to probe conflicting interpretations of the rent control law, which at the time did not apply to the “Trinidad Extended Stay” park. Humboldt County is re-evaluating whether the law should apply, Alexander wrote.

The 40th Award is given annually by the Humboldt Journalism Project, a DreamMaker Project of the Ink People. The award’s name was chosen to put the focus on those living within the lower 40 percent of the income scale. The breadth of this year’s entries demonstrates again that a key motivation behind award-winning journalism is the refusal to look away from people’s struggles.

In addition to its annual award, the Humboldt Journalism Project also gives reporting grants to freelancers working on a wide range of topics, and it is exploring creating an informal coaching program.