Ledger named finalist for national awards
And our healthcare writer wins a national prize for Atrium coverage
The following article appeared in the June 30, 2025, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with smart and original local news for Charlotte. We offer free and paid subscription plans. More info here.
News about ourselves: The Charlotte Ledger is a finalist for 2 national awards; Health care writer Michelle Crouch wins 1st-place national award for Atrium coverage
Patting ourselves on the back isn’t exactly a natural movement, but we’re honored to share the news that The Charlotte Ledger is a finalist for two national awards from an association of independent, locally focused online news organizations.
We are one of three finalists for awards from LION Publishers in two categories: “Product of the Year” and “Transformational Impact” — categories that would honor our work on coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in the N.C. mountains and on having a robust business operation that supports strong local journalism.
The Ledger is named a national LION Awards finalist for Western North Carolina coverage and “transformational impact”; Michelle Crouch picks up first-place award in Los Angeles last month for her coverage of Atrium Health.
◼️ The Ledger’s pop-up “Mountain Updates” newsletter, which launched in October 2024 following Hurricane Helene’s destruction in Western North Carolina, was selected as a finalist for the “Product of the Year” award, which recognizes an organization that “developed a successful and creative short-term or long-term product to strengthen their journalistic impact, financial health and/or operational resilience.”
◼️ We were also selected by LION staff as a finalist for the “Transformational Impact” award, which will be awarded to a news organization that “has achieved a transformational impact for its organization through dedication to improving operational resilience, financial health, and/or journalistic impact.” One of the other two finalists is La Noticia, the Charlotte-based Spanish-language print and digital publication.
The awards ceremony will be held on Sept. 3 in St. Louis, where a winner will be announced among three finalists for each category. We’ll keep you updated!
🏆 Healthcare award: We should also mention how proud we are of Michelle Crouch, who received a first-place national award last month from the Association of Health Care Journalists in the “health policy” category for her coverage of Atrium Health and how the large hospital system uses its status as a government entity to its advantage. Michelle’s work appears in The Ledger though our partnership with N.C. Health News.
We’re not in this for awards, but we appreciate the recognition of our team’s excellent work.
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