Reason Nominated for 17 Southern California Journalism Awards

Nominees include stories on inflation breaking brains, America's first drug war, Afghans the U.S. left behind, Javier Milei, and much more.

Reason has received 17 nominations for the 67th Southern California Journalism Awards, the Los Angeles Press Club announced Tuesday, including nine nods for the magazine, five for video, and three for podcasting.

Editor in Chief Katherine Mangu-Ward is nominated for best magazine columnist for "The Bankruptcy of Nostalgianomics" from the March 2024 issue of Reason; "SWAT Goes to College" from the July 2024 issue of Reason; and "Double-Hater Dead-Enders" from the November 2024 issue of Reason:

In election season, there's a certain dark freedom in policy nihilism. It allows candidates to campaign without accountability. If their policy proposals are flimsy and changeable, they reduce their own risk of being held to their promises. Knowing that the policy talk is meaningless allows voters to gloss over the difficult details of proposals, since the candidates are unlikely to pursue the policies they are discussing in a recognizable way once in office anyway. We're left with elections where the stakes feel apocalyptic, even as the substance hollows out.

But policy nihilism is only tenable for as long as the campaign lasts. Someone will win, and that person must govern—at which point the double-haters will almost certainly be proven right.

Reporter Eric Boehm is nominated for best long-form magazine feature on business/government for "How Inflation Breaks Our Brains," from the October 2024 issue of Reason, in which he surveys how history shows that rising prices make consumers—and voters—go insane:

Inflation, it turns out, is also a psychological phenomenon. It makes us angry. It makes us irrational. In any democratic system, that anger and irrationality can be quickly translated into poor policies—unless elected and unelected officials are prepared to withstand it, and to recognize that combating inflation often requires unpopular actions. Now is not the time to indulge the wisdom of the mob.

Reporter Billy Binion is nominated for best magazine commentary for "Trump Promises Police 'Immunity From Prosecution,'" from the August/September 2024 issue of Reason, in which he argues that pledging to inoculate law enforcement from accountability is both legally illiterate and unjust:

But one thing is clear: Trump would like to see law enforcement held to a lesser standard than the public they serve. The former president has arguably never been a tried-and-true conservative, but he does need to court them. It is difficult to make a conservative case for ensuring that those who enforce the law are also above it.

Science Correspondent Ronald Bailey is nominated for best science reporting in print and online for "Progress, Rediscovered," from the May 2024 issue of Reason, in which he profiles a burgeoning movement promoting scientific, technological, and economic solutions to humanity's problems:

Jason Crawford, founder of the Roots of Progress project, is one of the leaders of a new pro-progress movement that is coalescing in a collection of think tanks, websites, and other intellectual incubators. It celebrates humanity's achievements so far. It judges progress not in technocratic terms but with an eye on outcomes for individual human beings. And it imagines, again in Crawford's words, an "ambitious technological future that we want to live in and are excited to build."

Contributing Editor J.D. Tuccille is nominated for best medical/health reporting in print and online for "When Your Heart Becomes a Snitch," from the April 2024 issue of Reason, in which he explores how a lifesaving pacemaker can also be vulnerable to hacking and compromise privacy in surprising ways:

I have a cardiologist who already told me he thinks I exercise too much. Is he going to review the data and second-guess my habits? Is my snitching medical device going to inspire nagging sessions with doctors, perhaps followed by nastygrams from my insurance company or government agencies about lifestyle choices and resulting costs? Technological capabilities are racing ahead, but conversations about the implications lag well behind.

That's a thought to make my heart race.

Deputy Managing Editor Fiona Harrigan is nominated for best immigration reporting in print for "Left in the Graveyard of Empires," from the August/September 2024 issue of Reason, in which she reports on the thousands of people who helped the U.S. in Afghanistan—and who are still desperately looking for an escape from the war-torn country:

Things weren't supposed to go this way. In return for his service to the U.S., Baryalai was eligible for a sanctioned escape—a visa pathway specifically designed for allies like him, a reward for years of faithful military service. If that pathway wasn't backlogged and addled by bureaucracy, he might have gotten out of Afghanistan far earlier.

Instead of cashing in on a promise made by the U.S. government, Baryalai and thousands of other Afghan allies were forced to fashion their own paths forward. Some now struggle to maintain legal status in neighboring countries. Others have become unwilling nomads in their own country, on the run to avoid detection. The burden has been on them to escape Taliban rule or become invisible in Afghanistan.

Senior Editor Jacob Sullum is nominated for best race and society reporting in print for "'Smoking Opium Is Not Our Vice,'" from the May 2024 issue of Reason, in which he details how anti-Chinese xenophobia in San Francisco fueled America's first drug war:

As politicians like [state Sen. Edward J.] Lewis saw it, the opium problem was inextricably intertwined with the Chinese problem. If the government could not forcibly remove these "filthy" foreigners, as Lewis seemed to prefer, it could at least make life as difficult as possible for them. As former congressman James Budd put it at an 1885 anti-Chinese meeting in Stockton, California, it was local authorities' "duty" to make conditions so "devilishly uncomfortable" that the Chinese would be "glad to leave."

Associate Editor Emma Camp is nominated for best education reporting in print for "The Real Student Loan Crisis," from the March 2024 issue of Reason, in which she examines widespread misconceptions about student loan debt and delves into a little-known law at the root of the issue:

This rapid rise in debt began after the 2005 Higher Education Reconciliation Act introduced a new offering called Graduate PLUS loans.

Following the 1992 Higher Education Amendments, most individuals could borrow no more than $18,500 a year from the federal government to pay for a graduate degree. Now, graduate students could borrow up to the total cost of attendance for their program, including living expenses.

Unsurprisingly, graduate student borrowing skyrocketed. While the inflation-adjusted amount owed by graduate borrowers rose just 7.8 percent from the 1999–2000 school year to the 2003–2004 school year (Education Department data are not available for every academic year), it rose 27 percent from 2007–2008 to 2011–2012.

Contributing Editor Lenore Skenazy is nominated for best activism journalism in print for "Kids Should Be Blindfolded and Dropped in the Woods at Night," from the October 2024 issue of Reason, in which she explores the Dutch "dropping" rite of passage and argues the U.S. would benefit from adopting this tradition:

Since most kids are afraid of the dark, afraid of the woods, and afraid of getting lost, a dropping sounds like a therapist's dream, accelerating exposure therapy in one wild night. Dropping may be one of the reasons kids in Holland are some of the happiest in the world.

"I remember just feeling scared, but not scared to the point I'd never do it again," says Kimberly Humphreys, a Dutch mom of three now living in Brisbane, Australia. In fact, she went on droppings year after year, always "realizing I could do things that I thought I wasn't capable of."

Senior Producer Austin Bragg, Director of Special Projects Meredith Bragg, and Producer John Carter are nominated for best humor/satire writing across TV, film, radio, and podcast for "Great Moments in Unintended Consequences: Doordash, Google AI, French Wikipedia (Vol. 16)," in which they examine (hilariously) how good intentions often lead to bad results:

Producer Andrew Heaton, Senior Producer Austin Bragg, Director of Special Projects Meredith Bragg, and Producer John Carter are nominated again in best broadcast humor/satire writing for "Partisan Post-Game (Episode 2)," in which they satirize Republican and Democratic coaches taking questions from the press:

Reporter Billy Binion, Video Art Director Adani Samat, and freelancers Qinling Li and Arthur Nazaryan are nominated for best activism journalism across TV, film, radio, and podcast for "This 'crazy fat lady' was arrested for her journalism," a documentary that tells the story of a citizen journalist who sparked a national First Amendment case after she was arrested for her reporting:

Senior Producer Zach Weissmueller, Video Editor Danielle Thompson, Executive Editor of Video and Podcasts Jim Epstein, Producer Kevin Alexander, and Video Art Director Adani Samat are nominated for best environmental reporting across TV, film, radio, and podcast for "The political sabotage of nuclear power," a documentary that explores the backlash to a nuclear-powered future—which once promised abundant, emissions-free energy—and how the long nuclear power winter might finally be coming to an end in the U.S.:

Senior Producer Zach Weissmueller, Video Editor Danielle Thompson, Producer César Báez, Video Art Director Adani Samat, and Executive Editor of Video and Podcasts Jim Epstein are nominated for best feature documentary for "Javier Milei: Madman? Or savior?" which profiles Argentina's first self-identified libertarian president and asks if his reforms are working:

Editor at Large Nick Gillespie is nominated for best regular podcast for his The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie episode "Steven Pinker: What Went Wrong at Harvard," during which Pinker—the psychologist and best-selling author—argues that Harvard University's free speech policy was so "selectively prosecuted that it became a national joke."

Reporter Billy Binion is nominated for best podcast profile/interview with nonentertainment personalities for his 2024 interview with exoneree Amanda Knox, in which they discuss Knox's views on true crime and media bias, her efforts to reform coercive interrogation practices, her relationship with the lead prosecutor on her case, and her response to those who still believe she's lying:

Reporter Eric Boehm and former Podcast Producer Hunt Beaty are nominated for best limited series podcast for Season 2 of Why We Can't Have Nice Things, which explores how the government is making Americans poorer and sicker with its flawed approach to health care:

Winners will be announced on Sunday, June 22, at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. Thanks to the press club, as well as to our readers, subscribers, and supporters, who make it possible for us to produce meaningful journalism. You can subscribe to Reason here, find our video journalism here, and listen to all of our podcasts here.