Award-winning reporter dead at 61

HARTFORD, Conn. — Josh Kovner, an award-winning investigative reporter for the Hartford Courant, has died. He was 61.

The newspaper reports Kovner died of cardiac arrest Thursday at Yale New Haven Hospital, Saint Raphael Campus.

Kovner worked at the Courant for nearly 25 years and was part of a team of journalists that won a Pulitzer Prize for reporting on the deadly 1998 shootings at the Connecticut Lottery headquarters. He also helped the newspaper become a Pulitzer finalist for reporting on the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings.

Kovner covered child protection and social justice for the Courant, and also received national recognition for that work.

“Josh was a brilliant storyteller who took seriously his ability to use his position to speak for those whose voices weren’t always heard by those in authority,” Andrew S. Julien, the Courant’s publisher and editor-in-chief, said. “From investigating abuses of the mentally ill to neglect in group homes to exploring the events leading up to the Sandy Hook massacre, Josh displayed a unique combination of tenacity, compassion and insight.”

Kovner's career in Connecticut also included reporting stints at the Bristol Press and the New Haven Register.

Gov. Ned Lamont expressed his condolences during his daily coronavirus media briefing on Thursday afternoon.

“Everybody in the press community knew the man and the work he did,” Lamont said. "We will remember him.”