As promised, all the videos from last week’s Hillman Prize ceremony at the Times Center are now available on YouTube. Check them out. 

The Best of the Week’s News

• A moving tribute to Heather “Digby” Parton on the occasion of her Hillman Prize win by Kathleen Geier of the Washington Monthly. Hillman judge Katrina vanden Heuvel thought the post was so apt she quoted it when she presented Digby’s award at Tuesday’s Hillman Prize ceremony. 

• Fast food organizers are planning an international wave of protests next week to push for a living wage in the industry.

• The Next Christian Sex Abuse Scandal.

• Kidnapped Nigerian school girls are more than just a hashtag.

[Photo credit: Wander Mule, Creative Commons.]

Congratulations to Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Bud Bultman, Roni Selig, Melissa Dunst Lipman, Carl Graf, and Saundra Young on their Hillman 2014 win for the groundbreaking documentary, “Weed: Dr. Sanjay Gupta Reports.” Watch it in full online.  

Gupta is the chief medical correspondent for CNN and host of the cable network’s weekend medical affairs program “Sanjay Gupta, M.D.” A practicing neurosurgeon, he reports on health and medical news on various CNN programs and documentaries.

For more than a year, Dr. Gupta and his team travelled the world taking a critical look at the science and research surrounding the use of cannabis. Obtaining numerous exclusive television interviews with experts and families, “Weed” changed the national dialogue on this subject and fostered an unprecedented intersection between world-class science, tremendously needy patients and the ethics surrounding the use of this plant as a medicine.

This is another in a series of profiles of the winners of the 2014 Hillman Prizes. These prizes honor journalism in service of the common good. Follow us on twitter at @sidneyhillman. Use the twitter hashtag #Hillman2014 to find out the latest buzz on the Hillman Prizes, including our upcoming awards ceremony on May 6 at the New York Times Center. Use #Hillman2014 to tag your tweets about the Hillman Prizes. We want to hear from you!

Craig Welch and Steve Ringman have won the 2014 Hillman Prize for Web Journalism for “Sea Change: The Pacific’s Perilous Turn,” published by the Seattle Times and supported by the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting. 

The pair travelled the world to document the toll of ocean acidifcation, a little known but devastating side effect of climate change that threatens coral reefs, fisheries, jobs, and food supplies worldwide.

Welch’s elegant science writing and Ringman’s arresting photos depict what acidifcation has already done to the Pacific and point to an even more dismal future if action is not taken. Their reporting was enriched by innovative web-based features and social media outreach. 

To report a story that is taking place largely underwater, Welch and Ringman became certified scuba divers, despite having no prior diving experience. 

Welch has been covering the environment for the Seattle Times for 14 years, garnering several journalism awards. He is the author of the book Shell Games. Ringman is a 20-year veteran of the Times. His award-winning coverage of the renewal of the Elwa River became part of the book Elwa: A River Reborn.  

This is another in a series of profiles of the winners of the 2014 Hillman Prizes. These prizes honor journalism in service of the common good. Follow us on twitter at @sidneyhillman, Craig Welch at @CraigAWelch, and Steve Ringman at @sringman. Use the twitter hashtag #Hillman2014 to find out the latest buzz on the Hillman Prizes , including our upcoming awards ceremony on May 6 at the New York Times Center. Use #Hillman2014 to tag your tweets about the Hillman Prizes. We want to hear from you!