Nonprofit newsroom Flatwater wins top prize in NPA contests

The Flatwater Free Press has won the Nebraska Press Association's 2026 Better Newspaper Contest, earning the inaugural top prize in a newly created division for Nebraska's largest newspapers and nonprofit newsrooms. The nonprofit newsroom, named the 2024 Startup of the Year by the Institute for Nonprofit News, also claimed national recognition for its investigative reporting.

The Lincoln Journal Star finished second in the Nebraska Press Association division, while the Nebraska Examiner took third, according to results announced Saturday in Lincoln. The contest recognized investigations and feature stories focused on matters affecting Nebraska residents across numerous categories.

Three Flatwater reporters swept the investigative reporting category of the Nebraska Press Association awards. Chris Bowling won first place for stories on the safety net failing mentally ill Omahans and their families. Destiny Herbers earned second place for her series "Dying Blind," which examined Nebraska's undercounting of drug deaths. Emily Wolf received third place for her story on a Lincoln man's fight to have the Catholic Church acknowledge grooming allegations.

Herbers' work also finished second in the A-Mark Awards, given to the best investigative journalism in Nebraska and open to any state newspaper or nonprofit newsroom of any size. Sara Gentzler took third in that category for her reporting on alleged sexual misconduct at a Kearney youth detention center, following her investigation that led to the firing of the facility's director.

National recognition came for Jeremy Turley and Lauren Wagner of Flatwater and The 74, a nonprofit education newsroom. The pair were named finalists in the investigative reporting category of the National Awards for Education Reporting for revealing that Nebraska school districts frequently deny transfer requests from students with disabilities while approving the majority of other transfer requests.

Flatwater editor Natalia Alamdari and reporters Turley and Wolf also received second prize honors in the explanatory category for their coverage of Nebraska's immigration crackdown. Wolf additionally won second place in the features category for her story on a Lincoln bookseller gaining national attention on Instagram. Chris Bowling and Jeremy Turley took top prize for the best email newsletter in the state, which focuses on Omaha coverage.