The Lens won three first-place awards and eight additional honors Saturday night at the Press Club of New Orleans’ 68th annual Excellence in Journalism gala.

The top awards spanned the full range of how The Lens tells its stories; in print, pictures and out loud: 

• Editor Katy Reckdahl won Feature Reporting – Serious Feature for “Explaining Jessie Hoffman.” Over time, Katy has received more than 25 first-place Press Club awards.
• Photojournalist Gus Bennett won Best Multi-Photo Feature for “To Combat Violence, Young Rollers Offer a Happier Alternative: New Orleans Culture.”
• Producer Carolyne Heldman won Best Podcast for Behind the Lens — the show’s third consecutive first-place finish. 

In all, eleven Lens entries were finalists across ten categories this year, with recognition throughout the newsroom.

Of Reckdahl’s story, the judges wrote: “Gripping from beginning to end. This emotionally complex feature repeatedly challenges the reader’s moral perspective while revealing the lasting impact of generational trauma in a deeply memorable way.”

With three honors, Bennett was The Lens’ most-decorated journalist of the night, including both first and second place in Best Multi-Photo Feature, where his “Sheltering in Place through the ICE Storm” joined “Young Rollers” at the top of the category.

The full list:

• 1st Place, Feature Reporting – Serious Feature: Katy Reckdahl, “Explaining Jessie Hoffman“
• 1st Place, Best Multi-Photo Feature: Gus Bennett, “To Combat Violence, Young Rollers Offer a Happier Alternative: New Orleans Culture“
• 1st Place, Best Podcast: Carolyne Heldman, Behind the Lens
• 2nd Place, General News Reporting: Delaney Nolan, “Rust and Corrosion Threaten Levee Steel Pumps and Supports“
• 2nd Place, Medical/Health Reporting: La’Shance Perry, “New Orleans Health Department Launches a Misoprostol Map“
• 2nd Place, Lifestyle Reporting: Mizani Ball, “Taking in Parades Together, but Apart“
• 2nd Place, Best Multi-Photo Feature: Gus Bennett, “Sheltering in Place through the ICE Storm“
• 3rd Place, Investigative Reporting: Delaney Nolan, “‘They tricked me’: Migrants feel deceived by ICE after being promised $1,000 to voluntarily depart“
• 3rd Place, Education Reporting: Marta Jewson, “The Long Arc of John McDonogh Senior High School“
• 3rd Place, Best Feature Photo: Gus Bennett, “Last Call at the First and Last Stop“
• 3rd Place, Best News Photo: La’Shance Perry, photograph accompanying “Despite Spotty Track Record, Venture Global to Become Picture of New Federal ‘Energy Dominance‘”