
College of Illinois journalism scholar Madison Holcomb has been awarded first place within the faculty’s prime function writing competitors for her investigation into livestock deaths throughout transit, printed by Examine Midwest.
Her story, “Thousands and thousands of livestock die annually whereas being transported. These instances are not often investigated by the USDA,” was acknowledged within the Marian and Barney Brody Inventive Function Article Writing Awards, which honor the highest student-written function tales annually.
Holcomb’s story, printed in January, explored how outdated federal legal guidelines and restricted oversight contribute to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of animals throughout transport — and why enforcement is so uncommon.
The Brody Awards are offered yearly by the College’s Division of Journalism to acknowledge the most effective function tales written by college students in journalism courses over the previous yr. Articles are judged on reporting depth, use of element, narrative circulation, scene creation, and general model and tone. Three college students are chosen annually, with money prizes starting from $1,000 to $2,500.
The Brody Awards have been established in 1996 by way of an endowment from Marian Boruck Brody, a 1937 journalism graduate.


Two Examine Midwest journalists additionally just lately acquired Honorable Mentions on this yr’s North American Agricultural Journalists (NAAJ) writing contest. Editor-in-Chief Ben Felder was acknowledged within the Particular Initiatives class for “Parched within the Panhandle,” reported whereas he was a workers reporter. John McCracken earned Honorable Point out within the Options class for “Early morning calls. Barren rooster barns. Thousands and thousands in debt,” which explored the fallout for farmers left behind by poultry plant closures.
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Thousands and thousands of livestock die annually whereas being transported. These instances are not often investigated by the USDA.
Animal welfare advocates consider antiquated legal guidelines and truck driver exemptions result in hundreds of thousands of farm animal deaths.
On Aug. 22, 2024, a semi-trailer truck owned by Demaree Trucking, LLC, was hit by one other semi on Interstate 57 in japanese Illinois, inflicting the truck and its cargo of 67 cows to flip over onto the freeway shoulder. Twenty of the cows on board have been killed, whereas one other 20 obtained unfastened, scattering throughout the freeway and close by fields, in accordance with information from the Illinois State Police and the Tuscola Fireplace Division. A number of minutes later, one of many stray cows was hit and killed by…
Parched within the Panhandle
How Seaboard Meals rebuilt the Oklahoma panhandle’s economic system, which ushered in a brand new period of groundwater depletion.
How Seaboard Meals rebuilt the Oklahoma panhandle’s economic system, which ushered in a brand new period of groundwater depletion.
Early morning calls. Barren rooster barns. Thousands and thousands in debt.
Tyson Meals says current plant closures ‘drove out waste from the enterprise.’ Contract rooster farmers are actually caught with uncertainty and big loans.
Tyson Meals says current plant closures ‘drove out waste from the enterprise.’ Contract rooster farmers are actually caught with uncertainty and big loans.