KCUR's metro reporter Sam Zeff and The Midwest Newsroom, headquartered at KCUR in Kansas City, were recognized with a National Headliner Award, honoring their reporting on the killing of two-year-old Clesslyn Crawford by a Missouri police sniper in 2022.
The team received second place in the Breaking News/Continuing Coverage category. This is Sam's fourth National Headliner Award.
Founded in 1934 by the Press Club of Atlantic City, the National Headliner Awards program is one of the oldest and largest annual contests recognizing journalistic excellence.
Sam had begun working on the story in the summer of 2023, and received legal assistance from the Midwest Newsroom and the laywer they work with on investigative reporting.
It became apparent that the Midwest Newsroom's involvement in editing and managing the project would be useful, as this was a very detailed and in-depth story requiring editors experienced in long form and investigative work. The collaboration just made sense.
The story was published and aired on the second anniversary of the shooting.
“Working with a veteran journalist like Sam is really rewarding," says Holly Edgell, managing editor of the Midwest Newsroom. "When we joined forces, he already had a strong sense of the story and had interviewed key people and obtained the public records that show the timeline and the missteps in the shooting and the investigation that follow. Sam is a gifted writer so he crafted a compelling piece of journalism. It was gratifying to help bring the story to life.”
The investigation brought Clesslyn's story back into the headlines, and the next month, a small group of protesters came together in Joplin to demand that the sniper's name be released to the public.
"The story of Clessie’s death barely caused a ripple in Joplin before the KCUR investigation," KCUR reported in April 2024.
"'As far as I know, no local news sources were covering it,' said Austin Hagston, who organized the march. 'As a Joplin citizen, they tried to sweep the whole thing under the rug.'"
Sam Zeff says, "The investigation is a prime example of holding authorities accountable. Before our story only a fraction of what happened the night Clesslyn was killed was public. Now her family and everyone in Joplin knows the mistakes made during the standoff.”
The reporting on this topic will continue. KCUR and The Midwest Newsroom have joined a lawsuit seeking to require the city of Joplin reveal the sniper's name. The case hinges on whether the personal safety of "Sniper 1" outweighs the public’s interest in knowing the individual's identity.
“The public has the right to know the name of a police officer who recklessly shot and killed an innocent two-year-old child,” said Bernie Rhodes, the attorney representing KCUR and The Midwest Newsroom. “Under this perverse logic the worse a public official acts, the greater the reason to hide his name from the public.”
Sam says he is gratified by the recognition from the National Headliner Awards, and that the Clesslyn's story continues to affect him. "This is the kind of story that stays with you forever. When a family hugs you and says you helped them through their grief, how can it not?”
Click here to view the complete list of National Headliner Award winners.
