Finalist: ProPublica
For aggressive, insightful and influential coverage of the coronavirus pandemic that repeatedly exposed flaws and shortcomings in the ways federal and state agencies and corporate America handled the crisis, prompting fast government response.
Nominated Work
October 15, 2020
September 2, 2020
September 12, 2020
Winners
Prize Winner in Public Service in 2021:
The New York Times
For courageous, prescient and sweeping coverage of the coronavirus pandemic that exposed racial and economic inequities, government failures in the U.S. and beyond, and filled a data vacuum that helped local governments, healthcare providers, businesses and individuals to be better prepared and protected.
Public Service
Finalists
Nominated as finalists in Public Service in 2021:
The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.
For its unflinching, comprehensive and impactful coverage of the killing of Breonna Taylor and the legacy of systemic racism in the police force and other civic institutions in Louisville, which helped to spur important reforms.
The Jury
The Jury
Alix Freedman(Chair)*
Global Editor, Ethics and Standards, Reuters
Maria Carrillo
Senior Deputy Editor, Enterprise, Tampa Bay Times
Katrice Hardy
Executive Editor, The Indianapolis Star and Midwest Regional Editor, USA Today Network
Robert Little*
Senior Supervising Editor, Investigations, National Public Radio
T. Christian Miller*
Senior Editor, ProPublica
George Papajohn
Investigations Editor, BuzzFeed News
Mi-Ai Parrish
Managing Director of Media Enterprise and Sue Clark-Johnson Professor for Media Innovation and Leadership, Arizona State University
Winners in Public Service
Anchorage Daily News with contributions from ProPublica
For a riveting series that revealed a third of Alaska’s villages had no police protection, took authorities to task for decades of neglect, and spurred an influx of money and legislative changes.
South Florida Sun Sentinel
For exposing failings by school and law enforcement officials before and after the deadly shooting rampage at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
The New York Times, for reporting led by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, and The New Yorker, for reporting by Ronan Farrow
For explosive, impactful journalism that exposed powerful and wealthy sexual predators, including allegations against one of Hollywood’s most influential producers, bringing them to account for long-suppressed allegations of coercion, brutality and victim silencing, thus spurring a worldwide reckoning about sexual abuse of women.
New York Daily News and ProPublica
For uncovering, primarily through the work of reporter Sarah Ryley, widespread abuse of eviction rules by the police to oust hundreds of people, most of them poor minorities.
2021 Prize Winners
Robert Greene of the Los Angeles Times
For editorials on policing, bail reform, prisons and mental health that clearly and holistically examined the Los Angeles criminal justice system.
Wesley Morris of The New York Times
For unrelentingly relevant and deeply engaged criticism on the intersection of race and culture in America, written in a singular style, alternately playful and profound.
Michael Paul Williams of the Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch
For penetrating and historically insightful columns that guided Richmond, a former capital of the Confederacy, through the painful and complicated process of dismantling the city's monuments to white supremacy.
Nadja Drost, freelance contributor, The California Sunday Magazine
For a brave and gripping account of global migration that documents a group’s journey on foot through the Darién Gap, one of the most dangerous migrant routes in the world.