Thread by @edyong209

🥳As they say, some personal news: I won the 2020 Victor Cohn Prize for Excellence in Medical Science Reporting!

I’m chuffed to bits. The prize honours writers for a 5-year body of work. By coincidence, I'm a week away from my 5-yr Atlanticiversary (1/7)
casw.org/casw/victor-co…

I'm very grateful to the CASW and the judges. This announcement release is hitting me squarely in the feels. 😭 I’m especially proud that it not only talks about the work, but The Work. (2/7)

casw.org/casw/announcem…

Huge thanks & credit must go to all my incredible Atlantic editors: @slaskow @andersen @PaulBisceglio @rachgutman @julieebeck @thebanderson and Don Peck. I’ve learned so much from them & my colleagues. @JeffreyGoldberg & @slaskow also wrote *the nicest* nominating letters. (3/7)

All institutions are imperfect, but from the start, people at *every level* of the Atlantic saw the importance of science coverage. I was encouraged to be more, and never forced to be less. I never had to fight to do a story. Hagfish? Sure. Lichens? Do it. (4/7)

In my pandemic writing, I’ve repeatedly noted that our failures are systemic as much as individual. The same logic must apply to our successes. The Atlantic gave me the environment in which I could my best work. It’s an immense privilege. Many people don’t have it. (5/7)

On that note, I’ve donated the $3000 prize money to:

- The Ida B Wells Society for Investigative Reporting
- The Asian American Journalists Association
- The International Women’s Media Foundation

I hope this helps other journalists to do award-winning work. (6/7)

And finally, prizes are always hugely subjective, and there’s no shortage of amazing award-worthy work out there. Here are 3 threads of pandemic reporting that has resonated with me.




Thanks all!🍾(7/7)