NEW YORK, NY (April 27, 2022) – THE CITY, an independent, digital news outlet dedicated to hard-hitting reporting that serves the people of New York, was nominated for the James Beard Foundation Media Award for its coverage of food delivery workers during the pandemic.
In December 2020, Reporters Claudia Irizarry Aponte and Josefa Velasquez broke the story about the organizing efforts of Los Deliveristas Unidos, a collective of app delivery workers calling for better working conditions and fair wages.
Over the span of 16 months, Aponte and Velasquez followed the plight of the largely indigenous Guatemalan and Mexican food delivery workers as they fought for justice.
Ultimately, their reporting led to the New York City Council passing a set of bills that ensured bathroom access, minimum pay, and more for the app-based delivery workers who kept New Yorkers fed during the pandemic.
The Deliveristas’ Long Journey to Justice was nominated under the Investigative Reporting category, alongside Marianne Dhenin of Life & Thyme for her coverage of local farmers in the occupied West Bank and Josh Dzieza of The Verge for his coverage of the revolt of New York City delivery workers.
The winners will be announced at the Media Awards ceremony in Chicago on the campus of Columbia College Chicago on June 11.
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ABOUT THE CITY: THE CITY (thecity.nyc) is a nonprofit digital news platform whose mission is to produce free-to-read, local reporting that serves the people of New York City. Launched in 2019 to fill critical local reporting gaps, THE CITY covers New York’s uncovered neighborhoods, holds the powerful to account, and helps make sense of the greatest city in the world. THE CITY Scoop, its flagship newsletter, is delivered weekdays and Sunday, while additional newsletters serve New Yorkers with news they can use on housing, jobs and civic engagement.