Journalists win national award.

Arizona Republic reporters Craig Harris and Dennis Wagner and photographer Michael Chow have received the Society of Professional Journalists’ New America Award for their coverage of the Navajo Nation’s housing crisis.

The award honors coverage focused on immigrant or ethnic communities in the United States.

Their series, “To Build a Home: The Navajo Housing Tragedy,” was published in late 2016 and shed light on nearly two decades of mismanagement of federal housing funds by the tribal housing authority. The northern Arizona reservation’s dire housing needs remain largely unmet.

“The team that shed the light on the Navajo housing system was driven by knowing tens of thousands of families live in poverty and substandard housing,” said Nicole Carroll, editor and vice president/ news at The Republic and azcentral.com. “The tragedy here isn’t just that people are suffering, but that their suffering is needless. Hundreds of millions of dollars meant to help them haven’t — yet. We’re humbled to win this award and hope our team’s work can continue to help serve others.”

Harris, Wagner and Chow will be honored Sept. 9 during SPJ’s Excellence in Journalism Conference in Anaheim, California.