Carol Smith, formerly of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, won a 2009 Casey Medals for Meritorious Journalism. The contest, presented by the Journalism Center on Children & Families, recognizes distinguished coverage of children and families, particularly the disadvantaged.
Smith’s story, “ ‘Gravely Disabled’: Broken mental health care system wastes money, chances, lives,” won in the “single story under 200,000 circulation” category.
The Journalism Center says “The writing is original, compelling and clear. The story deftly moves from a wrenching narrative of a mother grieving for her tormented son, to a news peg of a recent shooting spree, to explanatory reporting on overtaxed state resources.”
Earlier this year, Smith won an AHCJ Award for Excellence in Health Journalism for “Dangerous and Mentally Ill.”
