May 6, 2025 Story by: Editor
In a landmark achievement, The Baltimore Banner has secured its first Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting, recognizing its in-depth investigative series on Baltimore’s escalating fentanyl crisis and its disproportionate impact on older Black men. The award was shared with The New York Times, which collaborated on the project.
Reporters Alissa Zhu, Nick Thieme, and photojournalist Jessica Gallagher led the Banner’s efforts, producing a series that combined compassionate storytelling with rigorous data analysis. The team developed a sophisticated statistical model to map overdose patterns across Baltimore, revealing that older Black men were dying at significantly higher rates than other demographic groups. This model was shared with newsrooms in cities like Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco to aid similar reporting efforts.
The Pulitzer Board praised the series as a “compassionate investigative series that captured the breathtaking dimensions of Baltimore’s fentanyl crisis and its disproportionate impact on older Black men.”
The Baltimore Banner, a nonprofit digital news outlet launched in 2022 by the Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, has rapidly established itself as a vital source of local journalism. Editor-in-chief Kimi Yoshino, formerly of the Los Angeles Times, guided the newsroom through this ambitious project. Reflecting on the award, Yoshino remarked, “This is a huge milestone for us. It is a testament to the power of local news, the need for local news, and what journalists can do when they focus on important stories in our community.”
The series not only highlighted the human toll of the fentanyl epidemic but also scrutinized systemic failures in public health and policy. By focusing on the experiences of older Black men—a group often overlooked in discussions about drug addiction—the reporting brought attention to the nuanced and deeply rooted issues contributing to the crisis.
This Pulitzer win underscores the critical role of local journalism in uncovering and addressing complex community challenges. As the fentanyl crisis continues to affect cities nationwide, The Baltimore Banner’s work serves as a model for impactful, data-driven reporting that centers on affected communities.
Source: AP News
