Idaho Capital Sun wins 13 Idaho Press Club awards for covering state government, Idaho life

The Idaho Capital Sun took home 13 awards — including seven first-place finishes — in the Idaho Press Club’s Best of 2023 Awards contest.

The Sun’s awards, which include General Excellence, Best Website and Best Spanish-Language Media, were announced at the press club banquet on Saturday night in Downtown Boise.

The Sun, part of the nonprofit States Newsroom network with news outlets and news partnerships to cover state government in all 50 U.S. states, celebrated its three-year anniversary on March 31.

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First place awards

Staff, General Excellence – Online-Only category

Staff, Best Website – All Media category

Mia Maldonado, Best Spanish-Language Media Award – Publication category, Idaho Capital Sun’s 2023 Spanish-language coverage

Christina Lords, Light Feature Report – Daily category: Finally come home: Oregon nonprofit works with Idaho vets, historians to solve WWII mysteries

Audrey Dutton, Serious Feature Report – Daily category: He’s in a prison cell, with no criminal conviction. Idaho put him there for mental health.

Audrey Dutton, Health/Medical Report – Daily category: What happened to the Idaho Health Data Exchange and can other states learn from it

Becca Renk, Opinion – Daily category: Why are women in Nicaragua more likely to survive childbirth than women in the U.S.?

Second place awards

Mia Maldonado and Kyle Pfannenstiel, Health/Medical Report – Daily category: Idaho doctors brace for impact on impending gender affirming ban

Mia Maldonado, Arts / Entertainment Report – Daily category: ‘It’s our roots’: Idaho Commission on the Arts project highlights Mexican diaspora

Mia Maldonado, Agriculture Report – Daily category: Famous … Oregon potatoes? Nah, Idaho stats show which state reigns spud supreme

Clark Corbin,  Outdoor Feature – Daily category: Chasing first light on Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa

Third place awards

Mia Maldonado, Environment Report – Daily category: Federal funds boost tribal-led revival efforts for salmon in upper Columbia River Basin

Mia Maldonado, General News Story – Daily category: Chicano culture is not gang culture, ACLU of Idaho claims. Here’s what experts say.