The Last Generation — an interactive documentary from FRONTLINE and The GroundTruth Project that offers an up-close look at climate change in the low-lying island nation of the Marshall Islands — was honored at the 2018 Online Journalism Awards (OJAs) on Saturday, September 15.

Produced by Michelle Mizner and Katie Worth and filmed on the ground in the Marshall Islands, the multimedia experience was named the winner in the Excellence and Innovation in Visual Digital Storytelling, Small Newsroom category. The Last Generation is told through the eyes of three children living in the Marshall Islands: 12-year-old Wilmer, 14-year-old Julia and nine-year-old Izerman. The three Marshallese children share their hopes and fears for the future as they grapple with the possibility of seeing their homeland disappear due to rising sea levels.

“Stories about climate change are uniquely difficult, and so our team thought deeply about how people would connect with such an outsized, complicated issue,” Mizner said. “We challenged ourselves to innovate in order to break through, and to have the project be recognized for that is very meaningful.”

“It was a privilege to spend time with Izerman, Julia and Wilmer — and extremely important to our team that we get their stories and the reporting around the science right,” Worth said. “We are grateful for the opportunity, resources and guidance FRONTLINE and The GroundTruth Project gave us to see it through. Michelle and I would like to give a special thanks to Raney Aronson-Rath, Andrew Metz, Charlie Sennott, Carla Borrás, Dan Nolan, Ly Chheng, Chris Amico, Jason Breslow, Amy Gaines, Beth Murphy and Marissa Miley for all their help in making this project come to life.”

The OJAs’ panel of judges praised The Last Generation for its “compelling characters” and for “character development using visuals that were strong.” The OJAs are administered annually by the Online News Association, a nonprofit membership group dedicated to excellence in digital journalism. Other 2018 award winners included The Washington Post, ProPublica and The Marshall Project.  

Explore our award-winning interactive documentary The Last Generation here.