Matt Hongoltz-Hetling

In 2010, as an assistant editor, he wrote an article titled "Tangled Web Between Casino, Ag. Association," which was published in the Advertiser Democrat, a small weekly newspaper located in Norway, Maine.{{cite web |url=http://www.advertiserdemocrat.com/story/contact-us |title=Advertiser Democrat |accessdate=2012-02-25 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207060121/http://www.advertiserdemocrat.com/story/contact-us |archivedate=2012-02-07 }} The article documented the sale of a racetrack from the Oxford County Agricultural Society to casino investment firm Black Bear Entertainment, with both entities sharing executive members.{{cite web |url=http://www.advertiserdemocrat.com/news/story/02-42-news-award2011-42-6 |title=Advertiser Democrat |accessdate=2012-02-25 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20120716191323/http://www.advertiserdemocrat.com/news/story/02-42-news-award2011-42-6 |archivedate=2012-07-16 }} For this story, the Maine Press Association awarded him first place in the category of "Investigative Reporting" by a weekly newspaper.{{cite web |url=http://mainepress.wordpress.com/2011-contest-winners/ |title=2011 Contest Winners « Maine Press Association |accessdate=2012-02-25 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120327201407/http://mainepress.wordpress.com/2011-contest-winners/ |archivedate=2012-03-27 }} It was also cited as an example of good investigative journalism by Down East, The Magazine of Maine, where Al Diamon called it "a careful examination of the ties that bind the gambling developers and the local agricultural society, connections that involve large sums of money, valuable real estate, political clout, and enough questionable statements to fill a gubernatorial debate."http://www.downeast.com/media-mutt/2010/august/quality-maine-weekly {{Dead link|date=February 2022}}

Hongoltz-Hetling and Editor A. M. Sheehan also won first place in the category of "Continuing Story" in the same competition, for a seven-part series that weighed the pros and cons of a proposed casino in the town Oxford, Maine.{{cite web |url=http://mainepress.wordpress.com/2011-contest-winners/ |title=2011 Contest Winners « Maine Press Association |accessdate=2012-02-25 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120327201407/http://mainepress.wordpress.com/2011-contest-winners/ |archivedate=2012-03-27 }}

The casino coverage also received first place in the "Special Award" category of the New England Newspaper and Press Association.http://nenpa.celsiustechnologygroup.com/sites/primary_frontend/downloads/2011-Better-Newspaper-Winners.pdf{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

In 2011, Hongoltz-Hetling and Editor A.M. Sheehan co-authored a story called "Slumlords, shoddy oversight, tax dollars ... living on Section 8."{{cite web |url=http://www.advertiserdemocrat.com/node/38011 |title=Advertiser Democrat |accessdate=2012-02-25 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120224102429/http://www.advertiserdemocrat.com/node/38011 |archivedate=2012-02-24 }} The article exposed poor living conditions in housing that was federally subsidized through the Section 8 program of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The article, and several follow-up stories, prompted a speedy investigation by state officials, which eventually led to the firing of an inspector, the cancellation of third-party inspection contracts by the Maine State Housing Authority, and a revision of procedures designed to prevent such conditions from being allowed to exist in Section 8 rental properties, as reported by various media outlets, including the Kennebec Journal.{{Cite news|url=http://www.kjonline.com/news/mainehousing-self-audit-ammo-for-its-critics_2012-01-07.html|title = Maine Housing self-audit ammo for its critics| newspaper=Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel |date = 8 January 2012}}

For their coverage of the housing conditions, Hongoltz-Hetling and Sheehan won the 2011 George Polk Award for Local Reporting, one of journalism's top honors, from Long Island University.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/20/nyregion/anthony-shadid-times-correspondent-posthumously-honored.html?_r=1|title = Posthumous Polk Award for Times Correspondent|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 20 February 2012|last1 = Barron|first1 = James}} When announcing the award, former New York Times editor John Darnton said that it was "extraordinarily reported and written and carried a major impact."{{cite web |url=https://www.mpbn.net/Home/tabid/36/ctl/ViewItem/mid/3478/ItemId/20437/Default.aspx |title=Maine Public Broadcasting Network, Maine News & Programming |accessdate=2012-02-25 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304063048/https://www.mpbn.net/Home/tabid/36/ctl/ViewItem/mid/3478/ItemId/20437/Default.aspx |archivedate=2016-03-04 }}

Hongoltz-Hetling was interviewed by Susan Sharon on the Maine Public Broadcasting Network for his part in the housing articles.{{cite web |url=https://www.mpbn.net/Home/tabid/36/ctl/ViewItem/mid/3478/ItemId/20437/Default.aspx |title=Maine Public Broadcasting Network, Maine News & Programming |accessdate=2012-02-25 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304063048/https://www.mpbn.net/Home/tabid/36/ctl/ViewItem/mid/3478/ItemId/20437/Default.aspx |archivedate=2016-03-04 }}

In 2012, Hongoltz-Hetling and Sheehan were announced as Pulitzer Prize finalists in the category of Local Reporting.{{cite web| url = http://www.pulitzer.org/citation/2012-Local-Reporting| title = The Pulitzer Prizes}} Hongoltz-Hetling and Sheehan were nominated for what Pulitzer jurors called "their tenacious exposure of disgraceful conditions in federally supported housing in a small rural community that, within hours, triggered a state investigation."

In 2015, Hongoltz-Hetling traveled to Sierra Leone to report on the Ebola outbreak and its impact on maternal health for the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.{{Cite web|url=http://pulitzercenter.org/project/africa-west-sierra-leone-kono-women-medical-healthcare-ebola|title = Sierra Leone: Where Corruption Kills}}

On 15 September 2020 his book A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear: The Utopian Plot to Liberate an American Town (And Some Bears) about the Free Town Project was published by Hachette Book Group.{{cite book |last1=Hongoltz-Hetling |first1=Matthew |title=A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear. The Utopian Plot to Liberate an American Town (And Some Bears) |date=7 January 2020 |url=https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/matthew-hongoltz-hetling/a-libertarian-walks-into-a-bear/9781541788510/ |publisher=Hachette Book Group |isbn=9781541788510 |access-date=30 December 2020}}

He is a member of the Order of the Occult Hand.

He is the brother of John R. Hetling, a bioengineer who specializes in neural prosthesis of the neural retina.

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• [http://www.matt-hongoltzhetling.com Personal web page]

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Category:Living people

Category:American male journalists

Category:American newspaper editors

Category:Journalists from Maine

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)