Emily Miller Wins Journalism Award For "Emily Gets Her Gun" Report

Emily Miller, Senior Editor for Opinion for The Washington Times, won the Clark Mollenhoff Award for Investigative Journalism because of her “Emily Gets Her Gun” report.

If you’ve never heard of the Clark Mollenhoff Award, it’s kind of a big deal in the world of journalism. The Institute on Political Journalism hands out an award each year to a story that contains all of the elements of a compelling investigative reporting, and which shows tremendous initiative from the author. Miller beat out candidates from The Wall Street Journal and Seattle Times, earning The Washington Times’ first Clark Mollenhoff Award.

Miller begins her journey into the complicated web of red tape in the DC legal system in pretty much the same way that all gun owners start: “I want a gun.” She starts off as a clear gun noob (she has to ask an official what a magazine is), but eventually comes to the same conclusion that most gun owners reach, “Clearly, this city’s political leaders have deliberately made owning a handgun a difficult process.” The report details every step she took in the long, complicated process to acquire a gun. Gun owners will be able to commiserate with her struggles, while everybody else will get a good idea of what firearm owners have to put up with.

You hear a lot about the allegedly liberal media slanting stories against guns, but this is actually an example that’s in their defense. It offers a true depiction into the needlessly convoluted gun registration process that DC gun owners have to endure. After looking at the long laundry list of steps Miller had to go through to get her gun, it sounds like Miller really earned that award.