The Post and Courier has received the top honor in the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference's 2023 awards for its investigative narrative story about an intellectually disabled man subjected to horrific labor trafficking in Horry County.
“Captive no more: One SC man’s journey to freedom after years in modern-day slavery” was written by reporter Jennifer Berry Hawes and featured visuals by photojournalist Andrew Whitaker.
The story received first place in the Mayborn's Best American Newspaper Narratives competition, which highlights some of the nation’s most outstanding journalists.
Hawes' article chronicled the plight of Christopher Smith, who was held in slave-like conditions at a restaurant in Conway where he was forced to work 100 hours or more each week. Witnesses saw the manager beat, burn and belittle Smith, but they and Smith were too scared to contact authorities. The abuse went on for years at an establishment that sat within eyesight of the county courthouse, filled at lunchtimes with prosecutors, police and deputies.
The story also detailed how a pair of private attorneys found a way to sue the manager and his restaurant, alleging forced labor practices, and how federal prosecutors eventually pressed a criminal case against the abuser to bring him to justice.
The article previously won a Silver Gavel Award from the American Bar Association and a first-place showing in the Society for Features Journalism's annual writing awards, where the judges called Hawes’ work “just astonishing” and said her story “is a must read for every person in America.”
The story also was recognized as part of a portfolio of Hawes' work that received a National Headliner Award for feature writing for journalists working outside a top 20 media market.
As the Mayborn's first-place winner, Hawes' story will appear in the Best American Newspaper Narratives journal, which is scheduled for publication in October 2024.
Hosted by the University of North Texas Frank W. and Sue Mayborn School of Journalism and Mayborn Graduate Institute of Journalism, the conference is one of the nation’s premier events for aspiring and experienced writers.
