A VTDigger initiative to shine a light on potential conflicts of interest in the Vermont Legislature won top honors Tuesday night at the 2023 LION Local Journalism Awards.
The nonprofit news organization’s “Full Disclosure” series tied for first place in the public service category, sharing the award with Block Club Chicago. The two news outlets competed in the large revenue tier, for those with annual budgets greater than $1.1 million.
VTDigger CEO Sky Barsch accepted the award at LION Publishers’ annual conference in Durham, North Carolina. LION, which stands for “local, independent, online news,” includes more than 450 member publications. The contest drew nearly 300 entries.
Recognizing how challenging it was for ordinary Vermonters to obtain ethics disclosure forms submitted by their state legislators, VTDigger collected and scanned the documents and built a searchable, sortable database. That tool informed a five-part series, called “Full Disclosure,” examining a variety of conflicts lawmakers must navigate — with their day jobs, the boards on which they serve and, in many cases, their status as landlords.
The series, published in April 2023, led to immediate action, with the Senate and secretary of state acting swiftly to make the disclosures more readily available — and crediting VTDigger for inspiring the changes.
Judges for the LION Awards wrote that “the remarkable efforts of VTDigger have undeniably made a substantial difference in the state of Vermont.”
“VTDigger’s work is both bold and brave,” the judges wrote.
The “Full Disclosure” database was built by VTDigger data reporter Erin Petenko and populated by interns Kate O’Farrell and Taylor Slonaker. Five reporters — Sarah Mearhoff, Lola Duffort, Kristen Fountain, Riley Robinson and Petenko — then used the database to report and write stories for the series. Glenn Russell contributed photography. The work was coordinated by senior editors Alicia Freese and Mike Dougherty and editor-in-chief Paul Heintz.
Barsch said she was grateful that VTDigger had been recognized by its peers, alongside Block Club Chicago and public service award finalists Berkeleyside and Oaklandside, Bridge Michigan and Outlier Media.
“The ‘Full Disclosure’ series took months of work, some of it quite tedious,” Barsch said. “But our team did it because they know our readers deserve greater access to this information. When public officials failed to make it available to Vermonters, VTDigger stepped up and did the work instead.”
Barsch thanked VTDigger’s newsroom, business staff and financial contributors for making “Full Disclosure” possible.
“On any given day, VTDigger journalists are juggling breaking news stories and long-term investigations — particularly during Vermont’s legislative session,” Barsch said. “Yet they still made it a priority to fully tell this story and to provide readers with the tools they need to learn more about those who represent them at the Statehouse.”
