Floodlight Editor-in-Chief Dee J. Hall wins INN Service to Nonprofit News award

Floodlight Editor-in-Chief Dee J. Hall along with her husband Andy were honored Wednesday by the Institute for Nonprofit News.

The couple were recognized with INN’s Service to Nonprofit News Award for their volunteer work at INN and for service to the nonprofit news sector. The award was part of the 2023 Nonprofit News Awards held at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta.

Nonprofit news outlets in the United States have proliferated in the 15 years since INN was formed. Now, more than 450 independent, nonpartisan news organizations are INN members, including Floodlight, where Dee heads the news team investigating the forces stalling climate action.

Andy was one of about 30 news leaders who founded INN, originally known as the Investigative News Network, during a 2009 meeting in Pocantico, New York.

That same year, the Halls launched the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, now known as Wisconsin Watch, one of the nation’s first nonprofit state-based investigative news outlets. Andy was executive director and Dee served as managing editor. Andy and Dee turned over leadership of Wisconsin Watch in 2023. Andy retired in December 2023.

In a nomination letter, five current and former Wisconsin Watch leaders described the Halls as “titans of the nonprofit news industry.”

Dee was recognized for her role as an editor on several collaborative news projects organized by INN. Both were recognized for the “many phone calls and emails you’ve answered from INN staff members going back many, many years,” according to Jonathan Kealing, INN’s chief network officer.

Andy served for 15 years on INN’s membership task force, a body that determines which news outlets can join after meeting strict standards of journalistic and financial ethics and transparency. 

“The growth we have seen since that foundational convening at Pocantico 15 years ago is nothing short of miraculous,” Andy told the 200 attendees. “Despite the challenges, nonprofit journalism survives — and thrives. It is our deepest hope that continues, for the good of all of us. And for the country.”