WASHINGTON – Jennifer Shutt, senior reporter for States Newsroom’s Washington, D.C. Bureau, has been named the recipient of the 2025 Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for Distinguished Reporting of Congress by the National Press Foundation. 

Shutt’s “clear, accessible reporting” on fast-moving Congressional action over the past year was highlighted by NPF judges, who noted her exemplary work covering the impact of Medicaid cuts on rural hospitals, shifts in FEMA duties and funding of tribal radio stations among other stories.

“Jennifer Shutt stands out by demonstrating clear, accessible reporting that connects national policy to real people rather than to political insiders,” the NPF judging panel said. “States Newsroom ‘punches above its weight’ among more resourced news organizations by focusing on issues that matter to readers and presenting them in readable, straightforward language.”

Shutt, who joined States Newsroom in 2022, covers congressional policy, politics and legal challenges with a focus on health care, unemployment, housing and aid to families.

“Jenn’s reporting represents what we value at States Newsroom – clear, thorough journalism that helps people understand what’s happening in government and how it affects them,” said Andrea Shaw, chief content officer. “We’re proud, but not surprised, that her stellar work is being recognized.”  

Before joining States Newsroom, Shutt covered Congress for CQ Roll Call for more than six years. As a budget and appropriations reporter, she tracked the annual federal funding process as well as disaster aid and COVID-19 spending.

Shutt is originally from northern Pennsylvania and holds degrees in journalism and political science from Penn State University. After graduating, she began her journalism career as a reporter for The Daily Times in Maryland where she covered local and state government. She then moved to Washington, D.C. to work as a web producer at Politico.

Shutt will accept the award March 12, 2026, at the National Press Foundation Annual Awards Dinner in Washington, D.C.

The $5,000 Dirksen award was created in 1980 in honor of the late Republican senator from Illinois. It recognizes journalists whose work shows thoughtful appraisal and insight into the workings of Congress.

ABOUT STATES NEWSROOM

States Newsroom is the nation’s largest nonprofit state-focused news organization. We shine a light on policy and politics in state capitals around the nation and we provide that coverage for free, no pop-ups, paywalls or ads. In an era of rampant disinformation and news deserts, we provide nonpartisan coverage of the state issues that most affect people’s daily lives.

Leading studies cite States Newsroom as key to filling the void in coverage left by staffing cuts at legacy media outlets. According to one study, the overall percentage of reporters working for nonprofit newsrooms in the statehouse press corps has more than tripled since 2014 and now makes up the largest portion of statehouse reporters in 10 states and the second largest in 17 states.

States Newsroom runs — or partners with — news outlets in all 50 state capitals.

We fully fund newsrooms in 39 states, each with its own website. They are:

Alabama Reflector – alabamareflector.com

Alaska Beacon – alaskabeacon.com

Arizona Mirror – azmirror.com

Arkansas Advocate – arkansasadvocate.com

Colorado Newsline – coloradonewsline.com

Florida Phoenix – floridaphoenix.com

Georgia Recorder – georgiarecorder.com

Idaho Capital Sun – idahocapitalsun.com

Indiana Capital Chronicle – indianacapitalchronicle.com

Iowa Capital Dispatch – iowacapitaldispatch.com

Kansas Reflector – kansasreflector.com

Kentucky Lantern – kentuckylantern.com

Louisiana Illuminator – lailluminator.com

Maine Morning Star – mainemorningstar.com

Maryland Matters – marylandmatters.org

Michigan Advance – michiganadvance.com

Minnesota Reformer – minnesotareformer.com

Missouri Independent – missouriindependent.com

Daily Montanan – dailymontanan.com

Nebraska Examiner – nebraskaexaminer.com

Nevada Current – nevadacurrent.com

New Hampshire Bulletin – newhampshirebulletin.com

New Jersey Monitor – newjerseymonitor.com

Source New Mexico – sourcenm.com

NC Newsline – ncnewsline.com

North Dakota Monitor – northdakotamonitor.com

Ohio Capital Journal – ohiocapitaljournal.com

Oklahoma Voice – oklahomavoice.com

Oregon Capital Chronicle – oregoncapitalchronicle.com

Pennsylvania Capital-Star – penncapital-star.com

Rhode Island Current – rhodeislandcurrent.com

South Carolina Daily Gazette – scdailygazette.com

South Dakota Searchlight – southdakotasearchlight.com

Stateline – stateline.org

Tennessee Lookout – tennesseelookout.com

Utah News Dispatch – utahnewsdispatch.com

Virginia Mercury – virginiamercury.com

Washington State Standard – washingtonstatestandard.com

West Virginia Watch – westvirginiawatch.com

Wisconsin Examiner – wisconsinexaminer.com

States Newsroom also has content-sharing agreements with 11 leading nonprofit newsrooms: CalMatters (California), Connecticut Mirror, Spotlight Delaware, Honolulu Civil Beat, Capitol News Illinois, CommonWealth Beacon (Massachusetts), Mississippi Today, New York Focus, The Texas Tribune, VTDigger (Vermont), and WyoFile (Wyoming).