Journal Sentinel investigation on electrical fires wins SPJ award
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s investigation into deadly electrical fires has been honored in the Society of Professional Journalists’ 2021 Sigma Delta Chi Awards for excellence in journalism.
“Wires and Fires,” an investigation by reporters Raquel Rutledge, John Diedrich and Daphne Chen, was named on Thursday the winner of SPJ’s award for investigative reporting on a single issue by a publication with up to 100,000 readers.
The investigation revealed that suspected electrical fires are not thoroughly investigated and therefore undercounted, including those causing deaths. In Milwaukee, the fires fall hardest on Black renters in the most distressed neighborhoods and yet no one is held accountable, the investigation found.
The series found that suspected electrical fires ravaged rental units in Milwaukee’s most impoverished neighborhoods at five times the rate of the rest of the city. A master electrician hired by the Journal Sentinel to inspect homes found numerous electrical problems. The statistically valid study, done with a grant from the Pulitzer Center, indicated that about 80% of the single and two-family rental homes in the 53206 ZIP code have electrical code violations.
The Journal Sentinel also found that rental assistance funds from the government continued to flow to landlords who failed to fix dangerous electrical problems.
Following publication, the Common Council has moved toward restoring rental inspections and directed that departments do a better job of collecting data and investigating fires. Local and state officials are considering a requirement that landlords have insurance and the city launched a renter education program around fire safety.
In May, “Wires and Fires” was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist for Public Service, along with the New York Times. The Washington Post, for its coverage of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, won the Gold Medal for Public Service.
The “Wires and Fires” investigation also won first-place awards from Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing and the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants and was named a finalist for Harvard University’s Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting.
ProPublica’s investigation “The secret IRS files” was named SPJ’s best investigative reporting on a single issue by a publication of more than 100,000 or online only. Other SPJ award recipients included the Associated Press, which won the public service category, the New York Times, the Miami Herald and the Washington Post.