McKnight’s Long-Term Care News has been named a finalist in two 2024 Jesse H. Neal Awards categories: Best Commentary and Best News Coverage.
Executive Editor James M. Berklan was short-listed for his columns, which appear each Friday at McKnights.com. Senior Editor Kimberly Marselas joined Berklan as a finalist in the Best News Coverage category. The Neals are informally considered the “Pulitzers of B2B journalism.”
“Jim and Kim are truly deserving of this rare recognition,” said Editorial Director John O’Connor. “Both are exceptional journalists — and even better people. It’s a privilege to count them as colleagues.”
Berklan’s distinguished tenure during two-plus decades at McKnight’s rests on a reputation for accuracy, fairness and objectivity. His columns, offering insights across virtually every aspect of long-term care, consistently provide a unique and enlightened perspective. Moreover, McKnight’s has earned more than 300 journalism awards since he joined the brand in 2001.
Marselas is respected as a tireless and dedicated journalist with the rare ability to report quickly and insightfully on a wide range of industry topics.
McKnight’s Long-Term Care News’ Best News Coverage package focused on federal efforts to institute new nursing home staffing requirements.
Marselas was the first journalist covering the sector to report on possible lawsuits by the nation’s largest nursing home association.
McKnight’s was the first trade publication to break the news of an “accidentally” leaked government study that undermined regulators’ own case for higher staffing levels. This leak is believed to have hastened the actual release of the proposed rule just two days later.
McKnight’s once again outpaced all other trade press outlets, issuing a bulletin about this historic White House proposal hours before any other. Utilizing advanced reporting and backgrounding, the pre-dawn story garnered tens of thousands of page views beyond its normal story reach.
Continuing coverage in the subsequent days and weeks shed new light on the costs and potential future implications of the requirement for industry stakeholders.
Among the 65 staffing-mandate-related stories McKnight’s Long-Term Care News produced in 2023, the ones with potentially the most far-reaching implications comprise recent in-depth coverage of legislative efforts to derail the federal proposal. Once again, McKnight’s readers are receiving the nuanced perspective they require on this historic industry issue, one that deftly navigates the complex interaction of many moving pieces.
A Neal victory in 2024 would make it two years in a row for McKnight’s Long-Term Care News. Last year, O’Connor won top honors in the Best Commentary division in the mid-size division.
McKnight’s parent company, Haymarket Media, has six Neal Award finalists overall this year, with MM+M and PRWeek also each netting a pair.
Now in its 70th year, the Neal Awards, presented by the Software & Information Industry Association, or SIIA, celebrate excellence in business-to-business journalism. Award winners will be named April 26 in New York.
