The Guardian documented the number of people killed by police in the U.S., telling the stories of who they were, and establishing the hidden trends in how they died, through a database, special reports, and multimedia. The investigation’s final tally for 2015 of 1,134 deaths was two and a half times greater than the last annual total recorded by the FBI. After the publication of “The Counted,” the FBI announced at the end of 2015 that it would overhaul its system of counting killings by police. The Department of Justice also began testing a new program for recording arrest-related deaths, drawing on Guardian data.
Medicare Unmasked
The Wall Street Journal uncovered Medicare abuses that cost U.S. taxpayers $60 billion. Using 9.2 million newly-disclosed billing records, the Journal uncovered bogus, unnecessary, and harmful practices. After pieces in the series were published, the federal agency overseeing Medicare rejected industry proposals to cover additional high-cost tests for drugs rarely abused by seniors; triggered the departure of a high-profile laboratory CEO; and led some cancer patients to stop using a dangerous drug lucrative for and widely prescribed by doctors.
The Echo Chamber
Reuters examined the U.S. Supreme Court’s docket to scrutinize its most secretive process – how the justices select which cases they will hear. What Reuters found is changing how people view the concept of equal access to justice in the U.S. A small group of lawyers and their clients – typically the nation’s largest corporations – have secured a special entry point to the court, giving them a disproportionate chance to influence the law.
The Red Cross’ Secret Disaster
ProPublica and NPR found that the Red Cross had put public relations ahead of relief services and had been serially misleading about its use of donations. The series showed how the charity had failed to deliver basic aid after several recent major disasters, including Superstorm Sandy, leaving victims in distress, even though it had received a deluge of support from Americans eager to help. After the series ran, the Red Cross had to withdraw its claims about its spending and Iowa Senator Charles Grassley initiated an investigation.
Till Death Do Us Part
The Post and Courier’s five-part series examined South Carolina’s ranking as one of the deadliest states in the nation for women at the hands of men. The series revealed that more than 300 women were killed by their husband or boyfriend in a decade, while the state’s leaders did little to stem the violence. The series showed a state awash in guns, saddled with ineffective laws and lacking in resources for victims of domestic violence. The investigation spurred national discussion, pressured state legislators into drafting and fast-tracking domestic violence reform laws, and led to the appointment of a statewide taskforce.
Shadow Campus
The Boston Globe found that in America’s college capital, illegally overcrowded student apartments owned by profit-driven landlords are rampant, placing the health and safety of thousands of undergraduates at risk while city officials did nothing to respond to this lawless behavior.
The Lobotomy Files
In his series, Michael M. Phillips detailed how the U.S. Veterans Administration lobotomized more than 2,000 mentally troubled troops after World War II. Using documents the government didn’t know it had about a shocking medical practice it didn’t remember performing, the articles challenged the deeply held myth that the Greatest Generation came through war emotionally unscathed.
Deadly Delays
The Journal Sentinel’s groundbreaking investigation found that thousands of hospitals — and dozens of state agencies that oversee the nation’s newborn screening programs — are failing America’s babies and parents due to an ineffective and unaccountable system. In a first-ever data analysis, the investigation revealed that each year hundreds of thousands of blood samples arrive late at labs across the country—in some cases because they were held and “batched” to save a few dollars in postage—putting babies at risk of disability and death.
Biogenesis: Steroids, Baseball and an Industry Gone Wrong
Miami New Times’ year-long series on doping and so-called “anti-aging” clinics resulted directly in suspension of 13 players, including a record 162 games for Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez. It was the largest round of such discipline in the history of American sport. The series also revealed systemic failure in Florida that allowed felons to own clinics like Biogenesis employing physicians with long disciplinary histories to sell federally restricted drugs such as steroids, testosterone and human growth hormone. The New Times probe forced baseball to confront its doping problems and the state to move toward policing its clinics.
Rape in the Fields/Violación de un Sueño
In an unprecedented media collaboration that spanned two languages, television, radio and print, “Rape in the Fields/Violación de un Sueño” uncovered pervasive sexual assault against immigrant women working in the agriculture industry. As a result of the report and the national discussion it spurred, local rape crisis centers are doing outreach to farm workers, district attorneys are beginning to file criminal charges against perpetrators, and state officials are drafting legislation to combat this widespread sexual abuse.
