THE Center for integrity in news reporting

Callie Ferguson, of the Bangor Daily News, and Josh Keefe, formerly of The Maine Monitor, were the inaugural recipients of the Center for Integrity in News Reporting Award of Excellence in Maine for their series “Stop Punching Him,” which investigated a March 2024 arrest in rural York County by the Maine State Police when a trooper pinned a handcuffed man to the ground and repeatedly punched him in the face while arresting him. The incident was captured on cruiser cameras, providing a visual record that the newsrooms’ joint investigation found conflicted with how responding officers described the event in their written reports. The episode raised questions about the agency’s use of force policy and its process for reviewing complaints, according to the newsrooms: Instead of disciplining the officer, the agency cleared him of any wrongdoing and promoted him. The determination fit into a broader perfect record in the state’s largest police force, the newsrooms found: the agency reviewed nearly three dozen complaints about use of force in the past decade; none were found to be excessive. Rufus Friday, executive director of the Center for Integrity in News Reporting, attended the Maine Press Association Better Newspaper Contest awards ceremony Saturday evening at the DoubleTree Hilton Hotel in South Portland to present the honor as well as the $5,000 prize, which will be split between the two reporters. In selecting “Stop Punching Him” as the prize winner, one judge wrote the series is “a shining example of what solid, public-interest news reporting should look like and that serves its readers (and the community at large) well." Complete results from the awards are available by clicking here . Judging comments and the ability to view many of the winning entries can be seen by clicking here .

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