Finalists

2025:
Alissa Zhu, Nick Thieme, and Jessica Gallagher, The Baltimore Banner
The city of Baltimore silently became the U.S. overdose capital over the last six years, losing nearly 6,000 lives to opioids. Journalists Alissa Zhu, Nick Thieme, and Jessica Gallagher of The Baltimore Banner decisively reappraise the opioid epidemic’s impact across the country through their reporting on Baltimore’s failure to rein in fentanyl deaths. The team spent years legally battling local officials for access to public records, and they partnered with The New York Times’s Local Investigations Fellowship to analyze decades’ worth of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Their meticulous investigation uncovered the disproportionate impact suffered by a single generation of Black men. It also led to protests outside of City Hall and the eventual creation of a city office dedicated to the prevention of opioid overdoses.

Olivia Carville and Cecilia D’Anastasio, Bloomberg Businessweek
In recent years, online safety for children has become an ever greater public health concern in the United States and abroad. Few reporters have revealed the terrifying damage wrought upon teenagers, their families and communities, as vividly and poignantly as Olivia Carville and Cecilia D’Anastasio. For Bloomberg Businessweek, Carville brought to national attention the deadly perils of “sextortion” scams, wherein criminals pose as young women on social media and then blackmail boys through compromising pictures. She also reported on how Snapchat enables drug dealers to sell counterfeit pills to teens, and, along with D’Anastasio, on how pedophiles use the gaming app Roblox to groom underage victims. Taken together, Carville and D’Anastasio’s work stands as a powerful wake-up call for policymakers and the technology industry at large.

2024:
Georgea Kovanis and Mandi Wright, Detroit Free Press
While it is no secret that the opioid crisis has ravaged thousands of lives, few have delved into the stories at the core of this national tragedy with such heart-wrenching intimacy as journalists Georgea Kovanis and Mandi Wright. In their Sunday-edition feature for the Detroit Free Press, “Amid Addiction, Finding Purpose,” Kovanis and Wright recount in painstaking detail—the one with words, the other with pictures—the life of Amanda, a heroin and fentanyl addict. They paint a complex portrait of a woman both determined to help other drug users stay safe while at the same time incapable of overcoming her own dangerous dependence. In narrating the many painful moments of Amanda’s reality, Kovanis and Wright exhibited both courage and grace.

Philip Obaji Jr., The Daily Beast
In a series of investigations, Philip Obaji Jr., a correspondent for The Daily Beast, presented grim and astonishing revelations about the Wagner Group’s shady operations in the Central African Republic. Obaji probed into previously unheard accusations against the Russian paramilitary organization regarding teenage trafficking, rape, and a possible massacre of dozens. His reporting spans a remarkable range, bearing witness to single, personal stories while also interlacing broader geopolitical concerns. His bravery and steadfastness are truly commendable: Obaji received countless threats due to his work, and earlier this year, he was abducted and beaten while interviewing sources.

Staff, The Washington Post
More than 75 journalists from The Washington Post contributed to the powerful and urgent series, “American Icon,” on the rise of the AR-15—the best-selling rifle in the United States today. The newspaper’s reporters call the weapon “a stark symbol of the nation’s gun violence epidemic.” Ten of the 17 deadliest mass shootings since 2012 have involved the AR-17, originally designed in the late 1950s for military use. Beyond their historical account, the team also created arresting visuals that explain, in precise and brutal terms, how the AR-15’s bullets lead to a blast effect capable of destroying the human body. The series took bold risks in publishing previously unseen crime-scene photos and body-cam footage. These disturbing images, along with the Post’s relentless reporting, provided a necessary new angle into the age-old debate on gun violence.

2023:
William Wan, The Washington Post
Mstyslav Chernov, Evgeniy Maloletka, Vasilisa Stepanenko, and Lori Hinnant, The Associated Press
Terrence McCoy, The Washington Post

2022:
Jessica Contrera, The Washington Post
Leah Sottile, High Country News
Andrew Quilty, Harper’s Magazine

2021:
Margie Mason and Robin McDowell, The Associated Press
Tony Plohetiski, Austin-American Statesman
Megha Rajagopalan, Alison Killing, and Christo Buschek, BuzzFeedNews

2020:
Tom Warren and Katie J. M. Baker, BuzzFeed News
Craig Whitlock, The Washington Post
Kyle Hopkins, Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica

2019:
Hannah Dreier, ProPublica
Christine Kenneally, BuzzFeed News
Connor Sheets, Alabama Media Group

2018:
John Woodrow Cox, The Washington Post
Kristen Gelineau, Todd Pitman, and Esther Htusan, The Associated Press
Carol Marbin Miller and Audra D.S. Burch, Miami Herald

2017:
Hannah Dreier, The Associated Press
David Fahrenthold, The Washington Post
Selam Gebrekidan, Stephen Grey, and Amina Ismail, Reuters

2016:
Martha Mendoza, Margie Mason, Robin McDowell, and Esther Htusan, The Associated Press
Ian Urbina, The New York Times
James Verini, The Atavist Magazine

2015:
Matthieu Aikins, Matter
Alex Campbell, BuzzFeed
Dexter Filkins, The New Yorker

2014:
Matthieu Aikins, Rolling Stone
Dave Philipps, Colorado Springs Gazette
Megan Twohey, Reuters

2013:
Alberto Arce, The Associated Press
David Barboza, The New York Times
Michael M. Phillips, The Wall Street Journal

2012:
Rukmini Callimachi, The Associated Press
Kathy Dobie, Harper’s Magazine
A.M Sheehan and Matt Hongoltz-Hetling, Advertiser Democrat

2011:
Emily Bazelon, Slate
John Bowe, Mother Jones
Jonathan M. Katz, The Associated Press

2010:
Ken Bensinger, Ralph Vartabedian, Los Angeles Times
Sheri Fink, ProPublica
Jeffrey Gettleman, The New York Times

2009:
Barry Bearak and Ceclia Dugger, The New York Times
Richard Behar, Fast Company
Peter Godwin, Vanity Fair

2008:
Kelly Kennedy, Army Times
Joshua Kors, The Nation
Tom Vanden Brook, Peter Eisler, and Blake Morrison, USA Today

2007:
Rukmini Callimachi, The Associated Press
Jesse Hamilton, The Hartford Courant
William Langewiesche, Vanity Fair
Charles Forelle, James Bandler, Mark Maremont, and Steve Stecklow, The Wall Street Journal

2006:
Kurt Eichenwald, The New York Times
James Risen and Eric Lichtblau, The New York Times
Chris Rose, The Times-Picayune
Cam Simpson, Chicago Tribune

2005:
David Grann, The New Yorker
Kim Murphy, Los Angeles Times
Maximillian Potter, 5280 Magazine
Elizabeth Rubin, The New York Times Magazine

2004:
Dan Christensen, Miami Daily Business Revie
Tom Junod, Esquire
John Lantigua, The Palm Beach Post
George Packer, The New Yorker