Image shows the U.S. Capitol on March 14, 2024. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON – States Newsroom Washington, DC, Bureau Senior Reporter Jennifer Shutt has been named the recipient of the 2025 Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for Excellence in Congressional Reporting, the National Press Foundation announced.
In a press release, The foundation said a jury recognized Shutt’s reporting on the potential impact Medicaid cuts rural hospitalsChanges in FEMA, which could impact states And Funding tribal radio stations.
Shutt is one of six members of the Washington Bureau from States Newsroomthe nation’s largest statewide nonprofit news organization, reporting from all state capitals as well as the state capital.
“Jennifer Shutt excels in clear, easy-to-understand reporting that connects national politics to real people, not political insiders,” the judges said. “States Newsroom stands out among better-resourced news organizations by focusing on issues that matter to readers and presenting them in readable, straightforward language.”
The judges said: “By avoiding political coverage of ‘horse racing,’ it delivered meaningful, impactful journalism.”
Before joining States Newsroom in 2022, Shutt, a Pennsylvania native and Penn State University graduate, served as Congressional Budget and Appropriations Manager for CQ Roll Call and worked as a reporter for the Daily Times in Maryland and as a web producer for Politico.
Shutt will receive the $5,000 award at the National Press Foundation’s annual awards dinner on March 12 in Washington, DC. The award is named after the overdue Republican Sen. Everett McKinley Dirksen of Illinois and recognizes reporters “whose work demonstrates thoughtful assessment and insight into the workings of the U.S. Congress,” according to the foundation.
Recent past winners include Benjamin Guggenheim of Politico, a Los Angeles Times team, and Lisa Desjardins of PBS NewsHour.
This is the second major award for the States Newsroom DC bureau this year. Senior reporter Ashley Murray received the 2025 Correspondent Award in the Dateline competition from the DC Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists for “outstanding reporting of the Washington region by a correspondent based in the Washington, DC region whose work is published or broadcast to an audience outside” the nation’s capital. Shutt was a finalist for this award.
