'Trustworthy reporting and witty commentary': My 2023 journalism awards season wrap up
My work was honored by New York University, the Los Angeles Press Club and the Orange County Press Club. Congratulations to all the honorees!
I’m happy to have picked up a recent few honors for my work during this year’s journalism awards season.
The most recent honor came Tuesday when I received honorable mention for “best news-based Twitter thread” in New York University’s American Journalism Online Awards for my coverage of verdict day in Tory Lanez’s trial for shooting Megan Thee Stallion.
“In December, rapper Tory Lanez was convicted of three felonies for shooting hip-hop star Megan Thee Stallion in the feet and injuring her. But before, during, and after the star-studded trial, social media was awash with misinformation and bias that sought to undermine and vilify the victim. Meghann Cuniff, an independent journalist who now runs the Legal Affairs and Trials website, rose above the gossip by delivering trustworthy reporting and witty commentary based on her extensive trial coverage experience. Her credibility and ethic paid off as her tweets went viral the day the verdict came through.” - Judge Kat Tenbarge, NBC News’ tech and culture reporter
You can read the full thread here.
It contains what I’m sure will always be my greatest tweet: the “Jay Z is a bitch” tweet. There are many reasons it is a great courtroom tweet, foremost being that it exemplifies reporting something not for the truth of the matter but to establish state of mind.
1st 🥇 went to a fantastic thread by Ashton Pittman, news editor of the Mississippi Free Press, about Brett Favre’s welfare scandal.
My Twitter coverage of Lanez’s trial also placed 3rd 🥉 for “best use of social media by an independent journalist” at the Los Angeles Press Club’s 65th annual Southern California Journalism Awards on Sunday.
1st 🥇 went to my Twitter thread about the Los Angeles federal judiciary’s handling of a civil rights lawsuit from a man who was wrongfully imprisoned of murder. I was proud to see my name, “Legal Affairs and Trials with Meghann Cuniff” and “Police and judges behaving badly” together on the ballroom big screen.
“Smart, clear use of a modern presentation while using journalism 101 to expose a case that received no media attention.” - the judge
You can read the thread here. It’s quite timely: The case is scheduled to go to trial before U.S. District Judge Fred Slaughter in Orange County on July 5. I’ll be there.
Speaking of Orange County, I also took the top two honors from the Orange County Press Club for “best use of social media” at the annual awards dinner on June 15.
1st 🥇 went to my coverage of rapper Cardi B’s civil trial over the cover art to her mixtape Gangsta Bitch Music, Vol. 1.
2nd 🥈 went to my coverage of John Eastman’s speech to the California Republican Assembly in March 2022.
Congratulations to all journalists whose work was honored!
I should add: A tribute I wrote about Orange County preservationist Ilse Byrnes for the Los Angeles Times’ Daily Pilot in January 2022 was second place for “best profile” from the California Newspaper Publishers Association in May. Read the article here.
Thank you for supporting my independent legal affairs journalism. Your paid subscriptions enable me to go in-depth and unfiltered on major issues. If you’re not already a paid subscriber, please consider purchasing a subscription for yourself or a gift subscription for someone else. Your support is absolutely essential to my work and will help build www.legalaffairsandtrials.com into a hub for quality journalism about our judiciary.
Congratulations!