The Reporting Project, a nonprofit news organization of Denison University’s Journalism program, recently won recognition for excellence in Cleveland Press Club’s “All Ohio Excellence in Journalism” annual contest.
News stories about grandparents raising their grandchildren and the future of water resources in Licking County won first-place awards.
Ella Diehl, a staff writer for The Reporting Project, won first place in the Neighborhood/Community News category for “A real quiet phenomenon:” 1 in 3 grandparents in Licking County are living with their grandchildren. The story explained the impact of an estimated 3,883 people in Licking County who are living with their grandchildren, and many of them are the sole caregivers for those grandchildren under the age of 18.
Reporter Alan Miller won a first place award in the Environment category with a story under the headline, “Dramatic surge in water demand predicted by 2040 puts farmers and industry on collision course – and the supply for all in question.”
The story says that the competing demands of agriculture and industry – particularly the 138 data centers in central Ohio already consuming millions of gallons of water a day to cool computer equipment – would require billions of gallons of water daily. And because of changing weather trends, agricultural demands to irrigate fields could reach an estimated 110 million gallons a day across the region by 2040 during the growing season.
