Virginia Business wins two international journalism awards

Virginia Business Deputy Editor Kate Andrews’ story about the October 2024 dockworkers strike won the gold award for best coverage of breaking local news at the Alliance of Area Business Publishers’ (AABP) 2025 Editorial Excellence Awards ceremony, held June 18-20 in Ottawa, Ontario.

It was one of two awards Virginia Business won among competing medium-size business publications at this year’s AABP awards, which were last held in Canada more than two decades ago.

“This reporting includes excellent coverage of the local and global impact to the workforce in this industry,” the judges wrote about Andrews’ story, which covered the start of a three-day strike that saw 45,000 dockworkers walk off the job from Boston to Texas — the first such action since 1977. “The article was able to validate the local voices while wrapping in the state and federal data.”

Additionally, Virginia Business Associate Editor Katherine Schulte placed silver in the Best Explanatory Journalism category for her story, “In critical condition: Independent medical practices face long odds,” from the January 2024 issue of Virginia Business. The story examined why the number of independent medical practices is shrinking, contributing to consolidation in health care.

In making their selection, the judges wrote of Schulte’s work, “This article uses clear, effective writing to show why independent doctors are vanishing. The writer pairs local voices and examples with national data to provide a comprehensive look.”

The 2025 AABP awards were judged by faculty members from the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Each award category was judged by a panel of three judges. The awards ceremony was held as part of AABP’s three-day annual conference.

Founded in 1979, AABP is a Norwalk, Connecticut-based nonprofit organization representing 57 regional and local business publications based mostly in the United States, but also including publications in Canada and Western Australia.