Lens co-founder wins award for report on NOPD victim policy
Note
The Lens is supported by the Greater New Orleans Foundation, which has twice won grants in the Knight Community Information Challenge.
Karen Gadbois
Karen Gadbois, co-founder of The Lens and a staff writer, is the 2012 recipient of the Society of Professional Journalists’ annual Ethics in Journalism Award, the organization announced today.
Previous winners include writers for The New York Times, The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. Entries are considered each year, but the organization withholds the award in years where no worthy entry is nominated.
Gadbois is being honored for her reporting that revealed the police record of a Good Samaritan who was killed while trying to stop a carjacking in Algiers in January. Departing from a frequently criticized practice, the New Orleans Police Department did not release the drug-related arrests and convictions of Henry “Mike” Ainsworth, who was a volunteer for NOPD’s 8th District station.
Gadbois’ reporting revealed a lack of consistency at best from the police and a double-standard at worst.
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