The Better Government Association received two national awards from the journalism magazine Editor & Publisher for a pair of long-term investigative stories, one of which was part of a collaboration with WBEZ, Chicago’s NPR affiliate.

Two other BGA stories were finalists for the so-called EPPY Awards, which honor the best media-affiliated websites across 30 categories.

The winning investigations and categories were:

  • “Taking Cover,” a multi-part investigation published and aired on WBEZ in January that examined lax oversight of suburban police involved in shootings. It was honored as Best Collaborative Investigative/Enterprise Reporting.

  • “Power Struggle,” a three-part series published late last year that examined soft oversight of the nuclear power industry in Illinois and across the nation. The series, published with the Associated Press, won the award for Best Community Service on a Media-Affiliated Website.

Now in its 23rd year, judges for the 2018 EPPYs reviewed more than 300 entries. The BGA entries were in categories for websites with under 1 million unique visitors per month.

Two other BGA stories were also recognized as finalists. They were: “Trapped,” and “The Graduates.”

“Trapped,” which was also produced with WBEZ, was a finalist in the Best Collaborative Investigative/Enterprise Reporting and examined how elevators in public housing apartment buildings placed residents, especially senior citizens, at risk. “The Graduates,” which exposed how City Colleges of Chicago awarded thousands of questionable degrees by manipulating data and was published by Crain’s Chicago Business, was a finalist for Best Investigative/Enterprise Feature.

Here is a full list of EPPY winners.

The BGA has now won or been recognized for nine national awards in 2018.