Rebecca Pierce, executive editor of the Traverse City Record-Eagle, Traverse City, Michigan, placed third in the under 35,000 circulation category of the Editorials category of the Carmage Walls Commentary Prize competition.
Third-place includes a curved glass plaque and a cash prize of $500.
The editorials submitted by Pierce focused on Michigan legislators' "much ballyhooed reform" of no-fault auto insurance. She said it was "so poorly conceived that catastrophically injured victims, who had paid into the system, lost their care and their caregivers went out of business."
In submitting her Carmage Walls entry, Pierce said: "In Traverse City, our reporters documented the plight of 9-year-old Brittney Ruckle, who had suffered a brain injury in a car crash in 2007. Ruckle, along with an estimated 18,000 car crash survivors in Michigan were among those devastated by this so-called reform when legislators failed to grandfather their coverage in prior to the reforms being passed.
"In June 2023, we editorialized about the plight of these victims and, behind the scenes, we spoke personally with local lawmakers about the urgency to correct the problem.
"In October 2023, with families of some of the victims present at the state Capitol looking on, the Senate passed reform-repair bills. Sen. John Damoose, R-Harbor Springs, who voted for these fixes, mentioned Ruckle’s family in his floor speech, saying some crash survivors had been twice devastated — first by the car crash and then when they ‘lost the insurance coverage they had bought and paid for.’
"The proposed legislation then moved to the state House, where it stalled in committee. Editorials on March 3 and April 28 provoked comment and some reaction, but not yet what we want to see.
"We won’t rest until this legislation is enacted — for Brittney's sake and the sake of all the others who are helpless to fight for their rights."
Pierce's entry included these three editorials:
Among the comments made by contest judges:
