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Investigative Reporting

For a distinguished example of investigative reporting, using any available journalistic tool, Fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000).
Year
Winners
Finalists

Hannah Dreier of The New York Times

For a deeply reported series of stories revealing the stunning reach of migrant child labor across the United States—and the corporate and governmental failures that perpetuate it.

Staff of The Wall Street Journal

For sharp accountability reporting on financial conflicts of interest among officials at 50 federal agencies, revealing those who bought and sold stocks they regulated and other ethical violations by individuals charged with safeguarding the public’s interest.

Matt Rocheleau, Vernal Coleman, Laura Crimaldi, Evan Allen and Brendan McCarthy of The Boston Globe

For reporting that uncovered a systematic failure by state governments to share information about dangerous truck drivers that could have kept them off the road, prompting immediate reforms.

Brian M. Rosenthal of The New York Times

For an exposé of New York City’s taxi industry that showed how lenders profited from predatory loans that shattered the lives of vulnerable drivers, reporting that ultimately led to state and federal investigations and sweeping reforms.

Staff of The Washington Post

For purposeful and relentless reporting that changed the course of a Senate race in Alabama by revealing a candidate’s alleged past sexual harassment of teenage girls and subsequent efforts to undermine the journalism that exposed it.

Eric Eyre of Charleston Gazette-Mail, Charleston, WV

For courageous reporting, performed in the face of powerful opposition, to expose the flood of opioids flowing into depressed West Virginia counties with the highest overdose death rates in the country.

Eric Lipton of The New York Times

For reporting that showed how the influence of lobbyists can sway congressional leaders and state attorneys general, slanting justice toward the wealthy and connected.

The Wall Street Journal Staff

For "Medicare Unmasked," a pioneering project that gave Americans unprecedented access to previously confidential data on the motivations and practices of their health care providers.

Chris Hamby of The Center for Public Integrity, Washington, DC

For his reports on how some lawyers and doctors rigged a system to deny benefits to coal miners stricken with black lung disease, resulting in remedial legislative efforts.

Matt Apuzzo, Adam Goldman, Eileen Sullivan and Chris Hawley of the Associated Press

For their spotlighting of the New York Police Department's clandestine spying program that monitored daily life in Muslim communities, resulting in congressional calls for a federal investigation, and a debate over the proper role of domestic intelligence gathering.

Michael J. Berens and Ken Armstrong of The Seattle Times

For their investigation of how a little known governmental body in Washington State moved vulnerable patients from safer pain-control medication to methadone, a cheaper but more dangerous drug, coverage that prompted statewide health warnings.

Paige St. John of Sarasota Herald-Tribune

For her examination of weaknesses in the murky property-insurance system vital to Florida homeowners, providing handy data to assess insurer reliability and stirring regulatory action.

Barbara Laker and Wendy Ruderman of Philadelphia Daily News

For their resourceful reporting that exposed a rogue police narcotics squad, resulting in an FBI probe and the review of hundreds of criminal cases tainted by the scandal.

Sheri Fink of ProPublica, in collaboration with The New York Times Magazine

For a story that chronicles the urgent life-and-death decisions made by one hospital's exhausted doctors when they were cut off by the floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina.

David Barstow of The New York Times

For his tenacious reporting that revealed how some retired generals, working as radio and television analysts, had been co-opted by the Pentagon to make its case for the war in Iraq, and how many of them also had undisclosed ties to companies that benefited from policies they defended.

Walt Bogdanich and Jake Hooker of The New York Times

For their stories on toxic ingredients in medicine and other everyday products imported from China, leading to crackdowns by American and Chinese officials.

Staff of Chicago Tribune

For its exposure of faulty governmental regulation of toys, car seats and cribs, resulting in the extensive recall of hazardous products and congressional action to tighten supervision.

Clifford J. Levy of The New York Times

For his vivid, brilliantly written series "Broken Homes" that exposed the abuse of mentally ill adults in state-regulated homes.

David Willman of Los Angeles Times

For his pioneering exposé of seven unsafe prescription drugs that had been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, and an analysis of the policy reforms that had reduced the agency's effectiveness.

Sang-Hun Choe, Charles J. Hanley and Martha Mendoza of Associated Press

For revealing, with extensive documentation, the decades-old secret of how American soldiers early in the Korean War killed hundreds of Korean civilians in a massacre at the No Gun Ri Bridge.

Gary Cohn and Will Englund of The Baltimore Sun

For their compelling series on the international shipbreaking industry, that revealed the dangers posed to workers and the environment when discarded ships are dismantled.

Eric Nalder, Deborah Nelson and Alex Tizon of The Seattle Times

For their investigation of widespread corruption and inequities in the federally-sponsored housing program for Native Americans, which inspired much-needed reforms.

Staff of The Orange County Register, Santa Ana, CA

For reporting that uncovered fraudulent and unethical fertility practices at a leading research university hospital and prompted key regulatory reforms.

Lou Kilzer and Chris Ison of Star Tribune, Minneapolis-St. Paul

For reporting that exposed a network of local citizens who had links to members of the St. Paul fire department and who profited from fires, including some described by the fire department itself as being of suspicious origin.

John Woestendiek of The Philadelphia Inquirer

For outstanding prison beat reporting, which included proving the innocence of a man convicted of murder.

Daniel R. Biddle, H. G. Bissinger and Fredric N. Tulsky of The Philadelphia Inquirer

For their series "Disorder in the Court," which revealed transgressions of justice in the Philadelphia court system and led to federal and state investigations.

Jeffrey A. Marx and Michael M. York of Lexington (KY) Herald Leader

For their series "Playing Above the Rules," which exposed cash payoffs to University of Kentucky basketball players in violation of NCAA regulations and led to significant reforms.

William K. Marimow of The Philadelphia Inquirer

For his revelation that city police dogs had attacked more than 350 people -- an expose that led to investigations of the K-9 unit and the removal of a dozen officers from it.

Lucy Morgan and Jack Reed of St. Petersburg (FL) Times

For their thorough reporting on Pasco County Sheriff John Short, which revealed his department's corruption and led to his removal from office by voters.