Congratulations to the INN members honored by the 2013 Investigative Reporters & Editors Awards.
The annual IRE Awards, established in 1979, “recognize outstanding investigative work and help identify the techniques and resources used to complete each story.”
California Watch’s “Broken Shield” series won a Multiplatform - Medium award. The series was also honored with the Gannett Award for Innovation in Watchdog Journalism. This is the second year that California Watch has won the Gannett, making it the only news organization to have won twice. The series is an incredible achievement by California Watch reporter Ryan Gabrielson and the series’ contributors.
IRE’s judges said of “Broken Shield”: “This is not only an important story examining egregious wrongdoing harming some of the most disadvantaged in society. This is a story of possible murder, multiple rapes and abuse all gone initially unreported and unanswered. The reporters left no stone unturned, including how one officer was logging 107 hours a week, every week. It is also an example of tireless digging for data over 18 months and methodology to be admired.“
In the Multiplatform - Large category, INN member ProPublica was honored along with PBS Frontline and American Public Media’s Marketplace for the report “Big Sky, Big Money.” “This project featured multiple partners breaking down a complicated subject – campaign finance in the post-Citizens United era – in a simple, entertaining fashion,” said the IRE judges. “The investigation led the teams from big sky country to a meth house in Colorado and to a UPS store in D.C. as they followed a trail of documents. What they found exposed the inner-workings of a dark money group.” ProPublica’s Kim Barker, Justin Elliott, Olga Pierce, Lois Beckett, Eric Umansky, Robin Fields and Steve Engelberg worked on the project.
Additional congratulations are due to the many members who were named as finalists, including Investigative Newsource for "Port Authority: Battle at the Waterfront;" the Center for Public Integrity, National Public Radio and partners for "As Mine Protections Fail, Black Lung Cases Surge;” The Bay Citizen for "Returning Home to Battle;" WBEZ-Chicago for "Grandma can’t accept your call: Inmates disconnected by phone costs;” the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, Chicago Talks and partners for "IJEC: Mental health on campus;” ICIJ and partners for “Plunder in the Pacific;” and NPR and ICIJ for “Human Tissue Donation.”
INN would also like to congratulate INN Board Chair Brant Houston and Pat Dempsey of Investigate Midwest, who contributed to Hoy Chicago and CU-CitizenAccess.org’s report “Crunch Time.”
INN is proud to support its members, and would like to congratulate all the journalists recognized at this year’s IRE awards.