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 .
Twelve journalists in seven newsrooms accepted the Center's new $5,000 awards for impartial, objective and fair reporting
August 30, 2026 — The Center for Integrity in News Reporting will expand its state journalism awards to California with a gift from Larry W. Sonsini , the prominent attorney who counseled many of the technology industry's defining companies. California becomes the 23rd state covered by the center's awards program and the most populous, home to more than 39 million people. The center will partner with the California News Publishers Association , which has served the state's newspapers since 1888, to present a $5,000 annual award honoring exemplary impartial, objective and fair news reporting. "Larry's generosity lets us recognize California journalists whose reporting meets the highest standards of impartiality, objectivity and fairness," said CFINR Executive Director Rufus Friday. The gift continues a period of rapid growth for the program. On Aug. 7, the center announced new awards in Iowa and Ohio , funded by the Adler Schermer Foundation and by John and Jane McCoy. With California added, the 23 participating states are home to roughly 197 million Americans, well over half the U.S. population. Sonsini is senior and founding partner of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati , the Palo Alto law firm he led as CEO and chairman for more than 35 years. He served as counsel to companies including Apple, Google, Netscape and YouTube, and as an adviser to industry figures including Steve Jobs. He also sat on the New York Stock Exchange's Board of Directors from 2001 to 2003 and later chaired the exchange's Commission on Corporate Governance. Sonsini also served on the Board of Visitors of the University of California at Berkeley. The state awards launched in 2025 with a grant from the SNPA Foundation covering 14 southern and southeastern states . A grant from the Stanton Foundation later extended the program across New England . The expansion comes as American trust in news media sits near record lows. Gallup polling shows the share of Americans who trust the media has fallen to 28% , down from about 70% in the 1970s. Founded in 2024 by Walter E. Hussman Jr., the Center for Integrity in News Reporting is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to improving public trust in journalism. Learn more at cfinr.org .
