Observer nominated for national magazine award

For the second consecutive year, a _Texas Observer_ reporter is a finalist for the most prestigious award in magazine journalism. The American Society of Magazine Editors announced this

morning that _Observer_ staff writer Emily DePrang is a finalist for a 2014 National Magazine Award. Emily is nominated in the reporting category for her two-part series on police brutality

in Houston. She’s a finalist along with reporters for _The New Yorker_, _New York Times Magazine_, _Rolling Stone_, _Harper’s_, _Outside_ and _The Atavist_. The winner will be announced at a

banquet in New York City on May 1. The National Magazine Awards, or Ellies, are considered the Pulitzer Prizes of the magazine industry. This is the third Ellie nomination in the

_Observer_’s 60-year history, and the second in two years. The _Observer_’s Melissa del Bosque was a 2013 finalist in the reporting category. Emily’s stories—“Crimes Unpunished” and “The

Horror Every Day”—published in the July and September issues of the _Observer_, were the result of eight months of reporting. The stories exposed that the Houston Police Department rarely

disciplines officers for misconduct and abuse. Over a six-year period, officers who left crime scenes, falsified reports, mauled suspects and shot unarmed citizens were allowed to keep their

jobs and are still patrolling the streets of the nation’s fourth-largest city. Emily found that between 2007 and 2012, Houston cops were involved in 550 shootings of people and animals. The

department deemed every one of those 550 shootings justified, including the killing of a wheelchair-bound mentally ill double amputee who was armed with only a ballpoint pen. Emily’s

reporting was picked up by _CNN_, the _Houston Chronicle_ and _The_ _Huffington Post_, among others. Congratulations to Emily! This is one of the most prestigious honors in journalism and

well-deserved recognition of her work. And congratulations to our staff and everyone who helps this little magazine in Texas produce some of the best journalism in the country.