A Bangor Daily News investigations reporter has been honored with a top New England prize recognizing outstanding journalism.
Callie Ferguson, the deputy investigations editor for the BDN’s Maine Focus team, was awarded the AP Sevellon Brown NE Journalist of the Year, a prize named in honor of the late journalist Sevellon Brown, during a Friday ceremony for the New England Society of News Editors.
That was in recognition of Ferguson’s coverage of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s raids and arrests in Maine. Her work highlighted the lives of working immigrants caught up in President Donald Trump’s push to ramp up deportations after his second inauguration, particularly during ICE’s so-called Operation Catch of the Day.
Ferguson’s examination of court records found, contrary to ICE’s claims otherwise, that just 11 of the immigrants caught in the January surge had a criminal record, undercutting the Trump administration’s claim of targeting “the worst of the worst.”
Michael Shepherd, the BDN’s politics and investigations editor, called it “one of the most complete public accountings” of ICE’s activity in New England.
This is just the latest accolade for Ferguson in recent years.
“Few New England journalists under 35 carry a resume like Callie’s,” Shepherd wrote in his letter nominating Ferguson for the award.
Ferguson was a 2022 Livingston Award finalist, a 2023 New York Times local investigations fellow and won the New England First Amendment Coalition’s Michael Donoghue Freedom of Information Award and a Sidney Award for her contribution to the BDN’s “Lawmen Off Limits” series investigating the lack of accountability among Maine’s sheriffs.
Ferguson and Josh Keefe of the Maine Monitor were selected to receive an A-Mark Prize for their reporting on the use of force by Maine State Police after a 2024 incident in which a state trooper pinned a handcuffed man to the ground and repeatedly punched him in the face while arresting him in rural York County.
Sawyer Loftus, an investigative reporter with the BDN’s Maine Focus team, has also been selected to receive an A-Mark Prize for his reporting on USDA foreclosures of homes purchased through its rural development mortgage program.
A-Mark Prizes recognize “outstanding investigative journalism that uncovers hidden truths, holds power to account, and drives meaningful public awareness or reform.”
The BDN also was honored as a distinguished newspaper in the 2026 weekday edition, large circulation.
