KPCW’s Grace Doerfler was honored with the Quintus C. Wilson Ethics Award, which highlights an individual for an outstanding contribution to Utah's journalism industry, particularly for demonstrating a concern for journalism ethics.
Doerfler’s 2024 reports covering former Wasatch High School head football coach Jody Morgan detailed how several families in the school district alleged Morgan verbally and emotionally abused their sons creating a culture of fear and intimidation.
In presenting the award, freelance journalist Tom Haraldsen noted that sometimes journalists must tell stories that make people feel uncomfortable and that’s what Doerfler did by diligently pursuing this difficult story.
“We have always revered our coaches who coach high school football,” Haraldsen said. “But sometimes things happen that we didn't expect. That's what happened in this particular case; there were complaints being made about a certain coach at a certain school here in Wasatch Front [sic] a reporter with KPCW Radio pursued this. It's not easy to take on high school coaches, especially in small towns like Heber City. But she was diligent, and she did what needed to be done.”
Accepting the award, Doerfler noted that while the reporting was about abuse, it was also about building relationships with sources who grew to trust her and confide in her.
“For me, this reporting was most of all about consent at every step of the way,” Doerfler said. “To share your story with a reporter, with the whole community, is a difficult thing to do, and so when we're pursuing these stories, I think that we can do our part to give back a sense of agency to sources who have experienced harm.”
Doerfler also earned an award for government reporting on Heber City’s proposed short-term rental rules and for elections reporting about a Wasatch County Council candidate who impersonated a music store owner and spread false information. She also finished second in the personality profile category with a story about a Heber City man who rode horseback across the country to raise awareness for wild mustangs.
KPCW Director of Digital Media Matt Sampson earned a third-place award in general news reporting with his story about Park City sisters who survived Hurricane Helene, highlighting the need for disaster relief.
Another major award, the Don Baker Investigative Journalism Award, was given to former KPCW news director and freelance journalist Michelle Deininger. It was for her work uncovering how the state’s highest-paid public schools COO Mike Tanner of the Park City School District lived and worked part time in Chicago.
President of the Utah Chapter of The Society for Professional Journalists Emma Penrod gave out the award. Despite initial threats of legal action against Deininger, Penrod said the district eventually eliminated Tanner's position and issued a public apology.
Penrod said Deininger’s work highlighted the risks and responsibilities of investigative journalism, particularly for freelancers who operate without the guarantee that their publisher will aid them in court or pay any resulting legal fees.
“Michelle chose to speak up regardless,” Penrod said.
When accepting the award, Deininger gave a shout out to KPCW for providing the interview with Tanner that launched her investigation as well as for the bravery of a couple of whistleblowers who came forward with information to corroborate her findings.
And while the school district spent another $15,000 on attorney fees to discredit her report, she said no corrections ever had to be made.
“Why did they do that? It should never have been so grueling, but we stuck with it,” Deininger said. “If we are not actively empowering our audiences with correct information, we are actively disempowering them through omission or anything else, right? We cannot have that, especially now.”
Deininger also received first place in the Writing and Reporting on Education category for the same story.
