Mississippi Today’s Sara DiNatale and Alex Rozier won the 2022 Bill Minor Prize for Investigative Reporting, and several of the newsroom’s reporters won a dozen other 2022 Mississippi Press Association awards.

The prizes, awarded annually by the state’s print news associations, recognize the best journalism of Mississippi’s newspapers and digital newsrooms. The 2022 prizes were announced at a Saturday luncheon.

DiNatale and Rozier won the state’s top investigative prize for their impactful 2022 investigation that revealed how Delta farm owners paid their primarily Black local workforce less money than temporary workers from other countries — most often, white men from South Africa.

“Good to know there are great reporters in Mississippi; bad to know there are so many issues that need investigating,” the MPA awards judges wrote of the investigation. “Good research, great interviews.”

The Mississippi Today investigation was later a focus of a congressional hearing held in Washington about unfair labor practices and racial discrimination in farming communities across the nation.

Several other Mississippi Today reporters took home 2022 MPA awards. Below is a complete list of the winners and the awards they won:

First place

In-depth investigative coverage: Sara DiNatale and Alex Rozier

Feature story: Julia James and Kayleigh Skinner

Business news story: Sara DiNatale and Geoff Pender

General interest column: Adam Ganucheau

Second place

In-depth investigative coverage: Anna Wolfe

Commentary column: Bobby Harrison

Third place

Business news story: Sara DiNatale

Sports news story: Rick Cleveland

Pictorial series: Vickie King

Commentary column: Adam Ganucheau

Best lede: Alex Rozier

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