A Bangor Daily News investigative reporter and editor was named Maine Press Association’s Journalist of the Year at the association’s annual conference Saturday in South Portland.
Callie Ferguson, deputy investigations editor for the BDN’s Maine Focus team, won the award in recognition of her reporting on the impact of controversial federal policies on the state
BDN Politics and Investigations Editor Michael Shepherd called Ferguson the paper’s “lead voice on two of last year’s biggest stories in Maine: immigration enforcement and the Trump administration’s fight with the state over federal money.”
Ferguson had been “the most decorated newspaper journalist in Maine who has not yet won” the Maine Journalist of the Year nod, Shepherd wrote in a letter nominating her for the honor.
“Her career has been built on holding police and other powerful people accountable,” Shepherd wrote. “What I think makes Callie special is her ability to work with sources on really difficult topics while also getting what she needs, but doing it all in a way that still keeps her in good standing. She works in such a way that she maintains a great deal of credibility among sources who are often the target of her reporting.”
Earlier this month, Ferguson was named the AP Sevellon Brown NE Journalist of the Year, a prize named in honor of the late journalist Sevellon Brown.
The AP award recognized Ferguson’s coverage of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s raids and arrests in Maine, highlighting the lives of working immigrants who found themselves caught up in President Donald Trump’s push to ramp up deportations.
Also on Saturday, Ferguson and Josh Keefe of The Maine Monitor were honored by The Center for Integrity in News Reporting for a series they co-wrote titled ‘Stop Punching Him,’ about a Limerick man who was repeatedly punched in his face by a Maine State Trooper who pinned him to the ground after he had been handcuffed.
Ferguson and BDN Investigative Reporter Sawyer Loftus on Saturday also received the MPA’s Judy Meyer Freedom of Information Award in the contest’s daily weekend division, for their reporting on ICE detentions in Maine. Kathleen Phalen Tomaselli, a reporter for the BDN-owned The County newspaper in Aroostook County, won the Judy Meyer Award in the weekly division for her reporting on public surveillance cameras in Houlton.
Other honors Ferguson has received include being named a 2022 Livingston Award finalist, a 2023 New York Times local investigations fellow, and winning 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.
BDN Staff members were awarded several individual honors at the conference.
First-place awards in writing and editorial categories:
Courts Story – Callie Ferguson, Police turned off the cameras
Editorial – BDN Editorial Board, Threats and dysfunction
Continuing story – Sawyer Loftus, Billy Kobin and Michael Shepherd: Graham Platner fallout
Business/Economics Story – Daniel O’Connor, Train grinds life to a halt
Sports Headline – Larry Mahoney, How much do these high school players love hockey? They travel 100 miles just to practice
Editorial Cartoonist – George Danby
In advertising, first-place wins went to Marcie Coombs, Campaign or Series; Callie Picard, Best Supplement Cover; and Amy Allen, Supplement/Special Section.
The paper also earned several second- and third-place awards.
Second-place advertising and marketing winners were Coombs, Allen and the BDN Philanthropy Team, with Allen, Coombs and Picard also earning third-place honors.
Linda Coan O’Kresik was awarded second-place photography honors in both the People and Spot News categories, and she picked up a third-place win for a scenic photo.
Second-place design honors went to Becky Bowden, Front Page Design; and the BDN Editorial Board, Editorial Page.
Second-place writing awards went to Mahoney, Ferguson, Loftus, Elizabeth Walztoni, Judy Harrison, Marie Weidmayer and Rob Glover. Third-place honors went to Walztoni, O’Connor, the BDN Editorial Board, Kathleen O’Brien, Kasey Turman, Weidmayer, Mahoney, Bill Trotter and columnist Bob Duchesne.
Leela Stockley earned a third-place nod in the Illustration/Graphic category, while Linda Kamp-Davis took home a third-place award for the BDN Sports Section.
The Bangor Daily News won third-place honors in the contest’s Print Excellence category.
An earlier version of this story contained inaccurate information about which city where the conference was held.
