How they did it: Reporters enlist teachers to investigate ‘toxic schools’
The Philadelphia Inquirer found over 9,000 environmental problems in the city’s public schools through an investigation that used community-based testing.
Goldsmith Finalists 2019
How they did it: Investigative reporting tips from the 2019 Goldsmith Prize finalists
Annually, the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy awards the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting to a stellar investigative report that has had a direct impact on government, politics and policy at the national, state or local levels. Seven reporting were chosen as finalists for the 2019 prize, which carries a $10,000 award for finalists and $25,000 for the winner. This year, for the first time, Journalist’s Resource published a series of interviews with the finalists, in the interest of giving a behind-the-scenes explanation of the process, tools, and legwork it takes to create an important piece of investigative journalism.
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How they did it: Reporters uncovered Trump hush payments to two women
A Wall Street Journal reporter discusses the newspaper’s investigation into secret payoffs Donald Trump and his associates arranged to suppress sexual allegations from two women during the 2016 presidential campaign.
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How he did it: A reporter investigates an Alabama sheriff who pocketed over $2 million in jail food funds
Alabama Media Group reporter Connor Sheets single-handedly revealed how a local sheriff had pocketed more than $2 million in municipal, state and federal funds meant to feed inmates in the county jail.
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How they did it: Reporters find dire problems with Texas’ Medicaid system
Journalists reveal failures of Texas’ managed care system through public records requests, statewide door-knocking efforts and data analysis.
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How they did it: Public records helped reporters investigate police abuse of power
Christian Sheckler of the South Bend Tribune and Ken Armstrong of ProPublica explain how they used public records to spotlight problems within the Elkhart, Indiana criminal justice system.
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How they did it: ProPublica investigates ‘zero tolerance’ immigration policy
“I’ve been doing this a long time, and I haven’t ever been part of a story that has had such powerful impact so swiftly,” Ginger Thompson, senior reporter at ProPublica, said.
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How they did it: Two journalists talk about their teen labor trafficking investigation
Journalists Daffodil Altan and Andrés Cediel discuss the importance of tenacity and cultural competency in doing high-quality investigative journalism.
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