Pulitzer Center Update July 7, 2021
Pulitzer Center-Supported Project on St. Louis Zip Code Wins Awards
In 2010, life expectancy in neighborhoods just west of downtown St. Louis was just 67 years. That...
The Pulitzer Center-supported project 63106: The Struggle to Survive the Pandemic in St. Louis's Most Vulnerable Neighborhoods won first place in the Best Reporting category in the 2021 Catholic Press Awards and a Gold Excel award in the Excel competition for feature articles.
The project follows families in the 63106 ZIP code in St. Louis, an area found to have the most problematic social determinants of health. A 2014 study revealed that the average life expectancy for a child born in 2010 in 63106 was 67 years old, while in 63105, a mostly white region with the highest per capita income in the region, the life expectancy for a child born in 2010 was 85 years old.
In an effort to shed light on underserved communities and their needs, the series of articles in the project takes a look at the most vulnerable St. Louis neighborhoods to learn how they are coping during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lead author Sally J. Altman and supporting authors Sylvester Brown, Jeannette Cooperman, Aisha Sultan, and Richard H. Weiss shared the stories of eight families on the project’s website and with St. Louis media, including the Riverfront Times, St. Louis American, St. Louis Jewish Light, St. Louis Magazine, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and St. Louis Public Radio.
The Catholic Press Awards is a competition organized by the Catholic Media Association, which has 200 member publications.
The EXCEL Awards from SIIA (Software & Information Industry Association) is considered the largest and most prestigious program recognizing excellence and leadership in association media, publishing, marketing, and communication.
Read more about the project’s award wins here.
