KC Star, Wichita Eagle are Scripps Howard Award finalists for Marion police raid coverage

The Kansas City Star and The Wichita Eagle are finalists for a prestigious national journalism award for their combined coverage of a police raid on a small town Kansas newspaper.

The Star and The Eagle are together a finalist for the Scripps Howard Journalism Award for Distinguished Service to the First Amendment. The Scripps Howard Awards, now in its 71st year, honors excellence in breaking news and investigative reporting.

In August 2023 the Marion Police Department, led by then-Chief Gideon Cody, searched the newsroom of the Marion County Record. Officers also searched the home of editor and publisher Eric Meyer and his mother, 98-year-old Joan Meyer, who died shortly after the raid. Police also searched the home of a local councilwoman.

Cody raided the properties as part of an investigation into alleged identity theft by a Record reporter, but the basis for the searches quickly fell apart. A local prosecutor withdrew the search warrants and Cody resigned weeks after the raid. Several lawsuits have been filed over the raid.

Last month, special prosecutors charged Cody with interfering in the judicial process, a felony, over allegations he instructed a local businesswoman to delete text messages in the aftermath of the searches.

The highlights of The Star and The Eagle’s coverage of the raid include exposing Cody’s checkered past at the Kansas City Police Department before leaving to become chief in Marion. The newspapers also reported on how Magistrate Judge Laura Viar, who signed off on the searches, had a history of DUI arrests. The editorial board of both newspapers also denounced the raid, and The Eagle produced a documentary on Joan Meyer’s death.

“We’re thrilled to have the collaborative efforts of The Star and The Eagle recognized by the prestigious Scripps Howard Journalism Awards. To be a finalist in this category is an honor,” Greg Farmer, executive editor of The Star, said.

“What happened in Marion was an attack on the First Amendment and all journalists, and we’re proud to have played a small part in ensuring those who infringed on the Marion Record’s rights are being held accountable.”

The other finalists for Distinguished Service to the First Amendment include Hearst Connecticut Media Group for an investigation into how Bridgeport, Connecticut, ignored open record laws and by Open Vallejo into how Vallejo, California, destroyed evidence in multiple police shootings.

The Scripps Howard winners will be announced on Oct. 20.