A Matter of Risk: Radiation, Drinking Water, and Deception

KHOU-TV’s I-team discovered public drinking water so contaminated with radiation, the underground plumbing it traveled through was turned away by scrap yards as “too hot” to recycle. Radiation lab test
results for every community in Texas were wrongfully lowered, leaving consumers in the dark about their true health risks. After this report, many of the most radioactive “water wells” were taken offline, while grassroots pressure from citizens at town hall meetings and scientists from around the country forced other widespread changes.

Poisoned Places: Toxic Air, Neglected Communities

“Poisoned Places” exposed the regulatory failures and political forces that cause millions of Americas to continue breathing unsafe air and, for the first time, publicly revealed the EPA’s internal “watch list” of
the nation’s most troublesome air polluters. This report triggered immediate enforcement action in two states, a push for openness by the EPA and an avalanche of coverage across the U.S.

Peace Corps: A Trust Betrayed

On the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps’ founding, a 10-month ABC News investigation into the murder of young volunteer Kate Puzey in Africa uncovered a shocking, systematic failure to protect Peace Corps volunteers who were victims of sexual abuse or whistleblowers who tried to report it. The ABC News report led to historic changes, including a new law designed to protect Peace Corps volunteers, and requires the Peace Corp to hire victims’ advocates and improve training.

NYPD Intelligence Division

The New York Police Department, in close collaboration with the CIA and with nearly no outside oversight, developed clandestine spying programs that monitored and catalogued daily life in Muslim communities, from where people ate and shopped to where they worked and prayed. AP’s reporting led three dozen lawmakers in Washington to call for House Judiciary Committee and Justice Department investigations.

Top Secret America

“Top Secret America” described a massive expansion of government created in response to 9/11 that has become so large, unwieldy and secretive that no one knows how much money it costs, how many people it employs or how many programs exist within it. The two-year-long project resulted in congressional investigations, a review of all intelligence programs requested by the Defense Secretary, and the CIA’s reduction of contract workforce.

Sponsored Bills in Sacramento

Karen de Sá’s series provided the first comprehensive examination of the influences of outside interests in California lawmaking. As a result of her investigation, legislative leaders proposed rule changes, and outside groups are pushing for mandatory disclosure of all meetings between lawmakers and lobbyists and greater disclosure of campaign contributions from sponsors. There is also a ballot measure to repeal the term-limit law.

Betting Against the American Dream – The Wall Street Money Machine

ProPublica, in collaboration with NPR’s Planet Money and Chicago Public Radio’s This American Life, revealed how the recession of 2008 was significantly deepened by the machinations of Merrill Lynch, Citibank and Magnetar, a little-known hedge fund. As a result, the SEC is investigating deals referenced in the series, and new rules are being implemented from the financial reform bill

Behind the Bail Bond System

In a three-part series examining bail in the United States, National Public Radio’s Laura Sullivan illuminated the powerful bail-bond industry and found that it hurts defendants, their victims and taxpayers. NPR’s reporting has been cited in county commission meetings in Florida and in the Statehouses in Virginia, Florida and North Carolina.

Breach of Faith

An investigation by The Los Angeles Times exposed widespread corruption in the tiny city of Bell, leading to multiple investigations, eight arrests, multimillion-dollar refunds for taxpayers and greater transparency about government salaries across California.

Do No Harm: Hospital Care in Las Vegas

After a two-year investigation, including the review of 2.9 million records, the Sun‘s five-part multi-platform series identified the preventable infections and injuries taking place in Las Vegas hospitals. Allen and Richards set out to impose transparency on Las Vegas hospitals so they would be held accountable. The multimedia presentation of their findings resulted in consumers having access to quality-of-care data that will help them make more-informed decisions.

“This extraordinary piece of work demonstrates the power of teaming high quality investigative journalism with imaginative and elegant multimedia representation. It is the future of news,” said Alex S. Jones, Director of the Shorenstein Center.