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The Investigative Reporters & Editors medal for 2014 goes to Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras, Ewen MacAskill and others for the Guardian’s reports on the NSA, which “revealed a story that continues to reverberate in the United States and across the globe,” the judges say. (Greenwald and Poitras now work for Pierre Omidyar’s First Look Media.)
ProPublica got a FOI Award for its series on revelations from government drug data.
In broadcast, New Orleans’ WVUE won for its “Body of Evidence” series, Los Angeles’ KNBC won for an investigation into bus safety and CNN and the Center for Investigative Reporting won for their series on fraud at rehab clinics.
Swedish Radio beat stories by NPR, CIR and Minnesota Public Radio with a story that sounds like the plot of a Stieg Larsson novel but is, shockingly, true.
“The Girl Who Got Tied Down” is all too real: Sexually abused by her own father, only to face rape while in foster care by others. Her attackers included a senior police official who publicly proclaimed he was a “feminist.” The police chief was ultimately exposed and prosecuted in a high profile arrest. The story also focuses on a senior psychiatrist who personally profits from abandoning the girl. Drawing from the girl’s own recordings — including confrontations with staff who have ignored and neglected her — Daniel Velasco and Swedish Radio weave together a riveting story, powerful and revelatory. After the documentary aired, the psychiatrist was fired and his company lost its contract. But more important, the documentary commanded public attention to the plight of all children lost in a harsh system.
