I’m a Senior Visual Journalist and filmmaker with more than 15 years of experience producing award-winning, high-impact video in newsrooms and mission-driven organizations. I make complex issues accessible, creating work that informs, engages, and drives understanding, including investigative features and documentaries to digital and mobile storytelling.
At The Seattle Times, I lead the video storytelling operation with a small, highly collaborative team. I often tackle conceptually challenging topics that demand editorial rigor, careful reporting and creative problem-solving. In my role as lead video journalist, I help shape coverage, allocate resources across projects, and provide editorial guidance to elevate storytelling across the newsroom. My work blends hands-on production — directing, filming, and editing — with strategic decision-making and cross-disciplinary collaboration.
Before joining The Seattle Times in 2014, I was a multimedia producer at the Open Society Foundations, where I led visual projects including “Bringing Justice to Health,” which explored the intersection of health and justice, and produced stories focused on Roma communities in Europe and early childhood education initiatives in Liberia. Before that, I worked as a multimedia producer at The Boston Globe, creating short-form video stories and contributing to award-winning digital projects.
My work has received recognition from NPPA Best of Photojournalism, Pictures of the Year International, the National Press Foundation, and the Northwest Regional Emmys, among other industry organizations. Outside of the newsroom, I support the visual journalism community through mentorship, coaching, awards judging and speaking at conferences and workshops.
CONTACT
E-mail: lauren.frohne@gmail.com
INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE
- Judge, Hearst Journalism Awards Program, 2024-Present
- Judge, NPPA Best of Photojournalism 2025
- Judge, College Photographer of the Year Awards, 2021
- Alumna, Poynter Leadership Academy for Women in Media, February 2020
- Mentor, Digital Women Leaders, 2020 – present
- FAA Part 107 Remote pilot
- Alumna, ASNE Emerging Leaders Institute, 2018
- Core member, Seattle Times Equity Steering Committee
- Video/Online Intern, The Roanoke Times, Fall 2010
- Managing Editor, Powering a Nation, Summer 2010
- Carnegie-Knight Fellow, UNC News21, 2010
- Roy H. Park Master’s Fellow, Journalism & Mass Communication, UNC-Chapel Hill, 2008-2010
SPEAKING & TEACHING
- Coach & Speaker, NPPA Multimedia Immersion Workshop, Syracuse, N.Y., 2013 – 2022
- Coach, Alexia Fall Workshop, Syracuse University, 2024
- Featured Speaker, Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar, Atlanta, Ga., 2018 & 2014
- Featured Speaker, NPPA Women in Visual Journalism, Denver, Colo., 2018
- Featured Speaker, Seattle Interactive Conference, Seattle, Wash., 2017
- Featured Speaker, College Media Summit on Diversity and Inclusion, Oregon State University, 2016
- Coach, Mountain Workshops, Berea, Ky., 2014
- Coach, The Portland Workshop: Advanced Multimedia Storytelling, Portland, Ore., 2014
FEATURED IN MEDIA
- IRE Journal: The Newsroom Guide: A living document shapes inclusive language, coverage
- Better News: How a Seattle Times Slack channel lets people speak up about insensitive coverage
- Committee to Protect Journalists: Seattle journalists describe covering COVID-19, “relearning how to do their jobs”
- NPPA: Making the “Beautiful Mad Art Until the End” Video
- Poynter: The Seattle Times’ coverage of the female experience
FILM FESTIVALS
Official Selection, 2024 Portland EcoFilm Festival, “To Heal a Forest”
Official Selection, Friday Harbor Documentary Film Festival 2023, “Finding Lillian”
Official Selection, Seattle Asian American Film Festival, “The Legacy of Linc’s Tackle”
Official Selection, Portland Film Festival, “The Legacy of Linc’s Tackle”
Best Director, Short Documentary, Tacoma Film Festival, “The Legacy of Linc’s Tackle”
Official Selection, Olympia Film Festival, “The Legacy of Linc’s Tackle”
Official Selection, 2010 Carrboro Film Festival, “Spilling Over”
SELECT FILM FESTIVALS, AWARDS & RECOGNITION
Winner, 2025 Anthony Shadid Award for Journalism Ethics, Seattle Times investigation of the systems failing teenagers addicted to fentanyl
First Place, 2025 NPPA Best of Photojournalism, Portfolio – Individual Video
Second Place, 2025 NPPA Best of Photojournalism, Portfolio – Team Video, The Seattle Times
Second Place, 2025 NPPA Best of Photojournalism, Portfolio – Visual Presentation, The Seattle Times
First Place, 2025 NPPA Best of Photojournalism, News & Issue – Individual Video, “Meet the older activists hoping to save Washington’s legacy forests”
First Place, 2025 NPPA Best of Photojournalism, Race & Identity – Individual Video, “A voice for the salmon: Boldt decision goes deeper than the right to fish”
First Place, 2025 NPPA Best of Photojournalism, Culture, Sports & Science – Team Video, “Ten years after Oso landslide, devastated site memorializes victims, teaches about risks”
First Place, 2025 NPPA Best of Photojournalism, Culture, Sports & Science – Visual Presentation, “FOREST FEUD: Washington’s fight over the old growth of tomorrow”
Award of Excellence, 82nd Pictures of the Year International (2025), Documentary Daily Life, “Party in the ropes: Seattle double Dutch jump rope group turns outdoor fitness into a party”
First Place, Best of the West 2025, Video Storytelling, The Seattle Times, “A voice for the salmon: Boldt decision goes deeper than the right to fish”
Winner, Northwest Regional Emmy Awards 2024, Historical/Cultural – Long Form Content, “Finding Lillian: The Lost Patients of Washington’s Abandoned Mental Hospital”
Award of Excellence, 81st Pictures of the Year International (2024), Documentary Storyteller of the Year
Finalist, 81st Pictures of the Year International (2024), Documentary Journalism, “Finding Lillian: The Lost Patients of Washington’s Abandoned Mental Hospital”
Award of Excellence, 81st Pictures of the Year International (2024), Online Storytelling: Daily Life, “Salmon Parks: Inside a Movement to Conserve Pacific Northwest Old Growth”
Award of Excellence, 81st Pictures of the Year International (2024), Documentary Daily Life, “Stop, Flop and Roll: TikTok Star Charms Seattle Cat Community”
Winner, 2023 Carolyn C. Mattingly Award for Mental Health Reporting, National Press Foundation
First Place, 2024 NPPA Best of Photojournalism, Portfolio – Online Video Team, The Seattle Times
Third Place, 2024 NPPA Best of Photojournalism, Documentary Editor of the Year, Lauren Frohne – “Finding Lillian: The Lost Patients of Washington’s Abandoned Mental Hospital“
Third Place, 2024 NPPA Best of Photojournalism, Documentary Short Form, “Finding Lillian: The Lost Patients of Washington’s Abandoned Mental Hospital“
Winner, Northwest Regional Emmy Awards 2023, Environment/Science – Long Form Content, “Army’s ‘Forever Chemicals'”
First Place, 2023 NPPA Best of Photojournalism, Race and Identity – Individual, “Connecting with the land through camas”
First Place, 2023 NPPA Best of Photojournalism, Culture, Sports and Science – Team, “The body you have”
Second Place, 2023 NPPA Best of Photojournalism, Online Video Team Portfolio, The Seattle Times
Finalist, 2023 Online Journalism Awards, Digital Video Storytelling, “To Heal a Forest”
Second Place, 2023 National Headliner Awards, Digital presentation single features topic, “First Foods”
Award of Excellence, 80th Pictures of the Year International (2023), Documentary Daily Life, “The body you have”
First Place, 2022 NPPA Best of Photojournalism, News & Issue – Individual, “They stood so tall”
First Place, 2022 NPPA Best of Photojournalism, Culture, Sports & Science – Individual, “The old-growth expert”
First Place, 2022 NPPA Best of Photojournalism, Team Portfolio, The Seattle Times
First Place, 2021 NPPA Best of Photojournalism, Pandemic – Individual, “As close as you can get”
Second Place, 2021 NPPA Best of Photojournalism, Race and Identity in America, “The Uprising”
Second Place, 2021 NPPA Best of Photojournalism, Online Video Storytelling – Portfolio, The Seattle Times
Honorable Mention, 2020 NPPA Best of Photojournalism, Large Team Portfolio, The Seattle Times
Overall Excellence, RTDNA National Edward R. Murrow Awards 2019, Large Digital News Organization, The Seattle Times
Award of Excellence, 76th Pictures of the Year International, Multimedia News & Issue Reporting Story, “We want answers, we want justice”
Gold, Large Newsroom, 2019 AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Awards, Hostile Waters, The Seattle Times
Honorable Mention, NPPA Best of Photojournalism 2019, Portfolio (Large Team), The Seattle Times
2nd Place, 2017 NPPA Best of Photojournalism, Multimedia, Multimedia Portfolio Large Market (Team), The Seattle Times
2nd Place, 2017 NPPA Best of Photojournalism, Multimedia, Documentary Multimedia Package, The Seattle Times, “30 Days”
Silver, 2016 Society for News Design Best of Digital, Features: Single-subject project, The Seattle Times, “Under Our Skin”
1st place, 2016 National Edward R. Murrow Awards, Reporting: Hard News (Video), The Seattle Times, “How the state is missing chances to find deadly birth defect’s cause”
1st place, 2016 NPPA Best of Photojournalism Multimedia, News Multimedia Package, The Seattle Times, “Live Updates From May Day In Seattle”
Best short video, 2015 Associated Press Sports Editors (75,001-175,000), The Seattle Times, “What Does “12” Mean to You?”
Emmy Award, 2012 National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, New England Chapter, Outstanding Politics/Government Specialty Report, The Boston Globe “Getting In”
Best Video Continuing Coverage, 2012 National Edward R. Murrow Awards, Online News Operation – Local, The Boston Globe “Whitey Bulger Coverage”
Best Video News Series, 2012 Edward R. Murrow Awards Region 10, Online News Operation, The Boston Globe “9/11 Ten Years On”
Best Use of Video, 2012 National Edward R. Murrow Awards, Online News Operation – Local, “The Celtics Super Fans” (part of team composite)
Honorable Mention, 2012 Casey Medals for Meritorious Journalism, The Boston Globe “Getting In”
Honoree, 2012 Webby Awards, Online Film & Video: News & Politics Series, The Boston Globe,“9/11 Ten Years On”
2nd Place, NPPA Best of Photojournalism 2012, Best Use of the Web, The Boston Globe “Getting In”
2nd Place, Boston Press Photographers Association, 2011 Contest, Video Story, “A Place of Peace”
2nd Prize, World Press Photo 2011, Multimedia contest – Interactive presentation, Powering a Nation
Gold, 65th College Photographer of the Year Awards, Large Group Multimedia, Powering a Nation
First Place, Online Convergence (40,000 to 150,000), Associated Press Managing Editors, The Roanoke Times “Legacy of the Flood”
Honorable Mention, North Carolina Press Photographers Association, 2010 Photographer of the Year
Award of Excellence, 64th College Photographer of the Year Awards, Large Group Multimedia, Living Galapagos
Finalist, 2010 ONA Awards, Multimedia Feature Presentation, Student – Living Galapagos
Finalist, 2010 SXSW Web Awards, Student category, Living Galapagos
Honorable Mention, 2010 Best of Photojournalism – Multimedia Package, Living Galapagos
Silver Award, SND Best of Digital Design 2010, Section/Topic Presentation, Powering a Nation
Student Award, SND Best of Digital Design 2010, Use of Multimedia, Living Galapagos
Student Award, SND Best of Digital Design 2010, Use of Multimedia, Powering a Nation
Best in Show, NPPA Best of Photojournalism 2011, Multimedia competition, “Spilling Over”
1st Place, NPPA Best of Photojournalism 2011, Documentary Video, “Spilling Over”
Gold, 65th College Photographer of the Year Awards, Multimedia Project, “Spilling Over”
Award of Excellence, 65th College Photographer of the Year Awards, Multimedia Project, “Splitting Main Street”
1st Place, 2011 Online Journalism Awards, Online Video Journalism – Small Site, “Spilling Over”
2nd Place, SPJ Mark of Excellence Awards, Region 2 Online News Reporting, “Splitting Main Street”
2nd Place, North Carolina Press Photographers Association, 2009 Photographer of the Year Awards – Multimedia Category, “A Risk Worth Taking”