Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Accomplishments
Timeline
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Justin Horwath

Santa Fe,N.M.

Summary

I am a mid-career journalist with more than 15 years of experience in daily, investigative, and narrative and feature reporting. I have won seven first-place awards, and several other prizes in state, regional, and national journalism contests. My investigative reporting has shaped public records case law, triggered lawsuits against powerful institutions, and exposed political corruption. I am a lucid public speaker with numerous appearances on radio, television, and documentary programs. Above all, I prize accuracy in my reporting.

Overview

19
19
years of professional experience

Work History

Journalist

Freelance
03.2024 - Current
  • I have been crafting compelling, in-depth investigative stories focused on politics and energy for New Mexico In Depth and appearing on the local PBS television program to explain and promote my coverage to wider audiences.

Reporter

S&P Global Commodity Insights
01.2019 - 02.2024
  • I covered the renewable energy industry in the U.S. for the publication's global audience. That required balancing daily stories with features, investigations and data dives about the electric utility industry as it underwent a radical transformation in its shift away from fossil fuels. This beat had me hunting for stories in complex federal and state regulatory and financial filings and maintaining relationships with sources across the U.S. to effectively cover industry trends, project developments, trade disputes, earnings calls, patent lawsuits, financing and energy and tax policies.

Researcher

OTR Global
08.2018 - 01.2019
  • I collected market information through interviews with on-the-ground sources across the U.S. and compiled my research in spreadsheets to inform the investment decisions of mutual funds, pensions, private equity firms and other institutional investors.

Reporter

The Santa Fe New Mexican
05.2015 - 02.2018
  • A versatile reporter for the capital city's newspaper, I regularly scooped competitors with enterprise stories on various beats - such as criminal justice, the environment and state and local government - and hustled to churn out breaking news and Sunday features. With colleagues, I routinely produced high-impact investigations, such as a nationally award-winning project that exposed horrifically inadequate medical care and sexual abuse in the prisons. I covered a legislative session, money in politics, political corruption, criminal and civil courts, motorcycle gangs, police shootings, poverty programs and was featured in a PBS documentary as a go-to reporter on behavioral health policy.

Staff Writer

The Santa Fe Reporter
05.2012 - 05.2015
  • I wrote cover stories, news articles, features as well as arts and culture reviews for the alternative weekly. I was part of a small team that won the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government's First Amendment Freedom Award for reporting that 'fought for the public's right to know and for government transparency in New Mexico.' We successfully sued the governor for failing to turn over public records I requested pertaining to pardons, emails and calendars.

Independent journalist
01.2007 - 01.2012
  • Reporting, editing and photography. Clients included TIME Magazine, Politics In Minnesota, Minneapolis City Pages and others. Internships at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal and Minneapolis City Pages.

Education

Bachelor of Arts - political science, U.S. history

University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

Skills

  • Investigative reporting
  • Multimedia storytelling
  • Feature writing
  • Beat development
  • Interviewing
  • Research and fact-checking
  • Public speaking
  • Writing and editing
  • Data analysis (MS Office)
  • Requesting records under state and federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) laws
  • Breaking news coverage
  • Source building
  • Television and radio appearances

Accomplishments

  • Legal reporting, Society of Professional Journalists, 2019 Top of the Rockies Regional Journalism Awards, circulation over 75,000, How one power broker escaped a drunken driving charge /Emails show prosecutors misled public about plea deal /High-profile DWI cases spotlight legal conflicts
  • Environmental reporting, New Mexico Press Association, 2017 Better Newspaper Contest, Under Martinez, a more favorable environment for Helena Chemical
  • Investigative reporting, Inland Press Association, 2016 Local News Writing Contest, circulation 10,000-49,000, Suspect Care: A crisis in inmate health services
  • Environmental reporting, New Mexico Press Association, 2016 Better Newspaper Contest, daily class 1, Old Mines present mammoth remediation task in N.M.
  • Environmental reporting, Society of Professional Journalists, 2015 Top of the Rockies Journalism Awards, circulation 10,000-29,000, Top Ten Water Guzzlers
  • News feature, Society of Professional Journalists 2014 Top of the Rockies Excellence in Journalism Awards, circulation 30,000-75,000, Walmartians: Sleeping overnight on a sea of pavement
  • Investigative reporting, New Mexico Press Association, 2014 Better Newspaper Contest, weekly class 1, Courting Susana: Tracing ties between the governor and racino owners

Timeline

Journalist

Freelance
03.2024 - Current

Reporter

S&P Global Commodity Insights
01.2019 - 02.2024

Researcher

OTR Global
08.2018 - 01.2019

Reporter

The Santa Fe New Mexican
05.2015 - 02.2018

Staff Writer

The Santa Fe Reporter
05.2012 - 05.2015

Independent journalist
01.2007 - 01.2012

Bachelor of Arts - political science, U.S. history

University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

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