Matt Hongoltz-Hetling is a

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

finalist journalist who won the 2011

George Polk award The George Polk Awards in Journalism are a series of American journalism awards presented annually by Long Island University in New York in the United States. A writer for Idea Lab, a group blog hosted on the website of PBS, described the awar ...

for Local Reporting, and appears on the List of George Polk Award Winners. He is currently a reporter for the

Valley News The ''Valley News'' is a six-day morning daily newspaper based in Lebanon, New Hampshire, covering the Upper Valley region of New Hampshire and Vermont, in the United States. Although the newspaper's offices are in Lebanon, its mailing addres ...

, a daily newspaper in

Lebanon, New Hampshire Lebanon ( ) is the only city in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 14,282 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 13,151 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 census. Lebanon is in western New Hampshi ...

Journalism career

In 2010, as an assistant editor, he wrote an article titled "Tangled Web Between Casino, Ag. Association," which was published in the Advertiser Democrat, a small weekly newspaper located in

Norway, Maine Norway is a town in Oxford County, Maine, United States. Norway was included in the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area. The population was 5,077 at the 2020 census. It is home to Pennesseewassee Lake, a freshwa ...

. The article documented the sale of a racetrack from the Oxford County Agricultural Society to casino investment firm Black Bear Entertainment, with both entities sharing executive members. For this story, the Maine Press Association awarded him first place in the category of "Investigative Reporting" by a weekly newspaper. It was also cited as an example of good investigative journalism by

Down East, The Magazine of Maine ''Down East: The Magazine of Maine'' is the principal general interest monthly magazine covering the U.S. state of Maine.Ulrich's Periodical Directory It is based in Rockport, Maine, with a second office in Yarmouth, Maine. It covers a range of ...

, where Al Diamon called it "a careful examination of the ties that bind the gambling developers and the local agricultural society, connections that involve large sums of money, valuable real estate, political clout, and enough questionable statements to fill a gubernatorial debate." Hongoltz-Hetling and Editor A. M. Sheehan also won first place in the category of "Continuing Story" in the same competition, for a seven-part series that weighed the pros and cons of a proposed casino in the town Oxford, Maine. The casino coverage also received first place in the "Special Award" category of the New England Newspaper and Press Association. In 2011, Hongoltz-Hetling and Editor A.M. Sheehan co-authored a story called "Slumlords, shoddy oversight, tax dollars ... living on Section 8." The article exposed poor living conditions in housing that was federally subsidized through the Section 8 program of the

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the secretary of housing and ur ...

. The article, and several follow-up stories, prompted a speedy investigation by state officials, which eventually led to the firing of an inspector, the cancellation of third-party inspection contracts by the Maine State Housing Authority, and a revision of procedures designed to prevent such conditions from being allowed to exist in Section 8 rental properties, as reported by various media outlets, including the

Kennebec Journal The ''Kennebec Journal'' (''KJ'') is a six-day morning daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or g ...

. For their coverage of the housing conditions, Hongoltz-Hetling and Sheehan won the 2011

George Polk Award The George Polk Awards in Journalism are a series of American journalism awards presented annually by Long Island University in New York in the United States. A writer for Idea Lab, a group blog hosted on the website of PBS, described the awar ...

for Local Reporting, one of journalism's top honors, from

Long Island University Long Island University (LIU) is a private university in Brooklyn and Brookville, New York, United States. The university enrolls over 16,000 students and offers over 500 academic programs at its main campuses, LIU Brooklyn and LIU Post on Long I ...

. When announcing the award, former

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

editor

John Darnton John Darnton (born November 20, 1941) is an American journalist who wrote for the ''New York Times''. He is a two-time winner of the Polk Award, of which he is now the curator, and the 1982 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting. He also mo ...

said that it was "extraordinarily reported and written and carried a major impact." Hongoltz-Hetling was interviewed by Susan Sharon on the

Maine Public Broadcasting Network The Maine Public Broadcasting Network (abbreviated MPBN and branded as Maine Public) is a network of public television and radio stations located in the U.S. state of Maine. It is operated by the Maine Public Broadcasting Corporation, which h ...

for his part in the housing articles. In 2012, Hongoltz-Hetling and Sheehan were announced as Pulitzer Prize finalists in the category of Local Reporting. Hongoltz-Hetling and Sheehan were nominated for what Pulitzer jurors called "their tenacious exposure of disgraceful conditions in federally supported housing in a small rural community that, within hours, triggered a state investigation." In 2015, Hongoltz-Hetling traveled to

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

to report on the Ebola outbreak and its impact on maternal health for the

Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting is an American news media organization established in 2006 that sponsors independent reporting on global issues that other media outlets are less willing or able to undertake on their own. The center's go ...

. On 15 September 2020 his book ''A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear: The Utopian Plot to Liberate an American Town (And Some Bears)'' about the Free Town Project was published by

Hachette Book Group Hachette Book Group, Inc. (HBG) is a publishing company owned by Hachette Livre, the largest publishing company in France, and the third largest trade and educational publisher in the world. Hachette Livre is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lagard� ...

. He is a member of the

Order of the Occult Hand The Order of the Occult Hand is a secret society of American journalists who slip the meaningless and telltale phrase "It was as if some occult hand had…" in print as an inside joke. History The phrase was introduced by Joseph Flanders, then a ...

Family

He is the brother of John R. Hetling, a bioengineer who specializes in neural prosthesis of the neural retina.

References

External links

Personal web page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hongoltz-Hetling, Matt Living people American male journalists American newspaper editors Journalists from Maine Year of birth missing (living people)