The winners of the 2014 George Polk Awards in Journalism, announced Sunday by Long Island University, included several IRE members. The awards honor special achievement in journalism, particularly in the areas of investigative and enterprise reporting. The following IRE members were honored in this year’s awards:
Listen to Dennis Wagner discuss his coverage of the Phoenix VA on the IRE Radio Podcast
- Rania Abouzeid, an independent journalist writing for Politico Magazine, received the foreign reporting award for “The Jihad Next Door.” Read the story.
- Dennis Wagner of The Arizona Republic was recognized in the military reporting category for his coverage of allegations of misconduct in the Phoenix Veterans Administration health care system. Read his work.
- Doug Pardue, Glenn Smith and Natalie Caula Hauff of The Post and Courier in Charleston, South Carolina received the state reporting award for “Till Death Do Us Part.” Colleague Jennifer Berry Hawes also was named on the award. The five-part series examines the domestic abuse deaths of 300 women in the past decade. Read the series.
- John Carlos Frey of The Investigative Fund was part of a group of journalists to receive the television reporting award for “Muriendo por Cruzar (Dying to Cross)” and “The Real Death Valley.” Telemundo, The Weather Channel and The Investigative Fund worked together to produce the investigations, which looked at the plight of migrants in Brooks County, Texas. Watch "Muriendo por Cruzar" and "The Real Death Valley".
IRE members also contributed to the following award-winning projects and news organizations:
- The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, a group of 120 journalists from 58 countries and 42 news organizations, working as part of The Center for Public Integrity, received the award for business reporting for “Offshore Secrets.” The three-year investigation looked at ways wealthy companies and individuals avoid taxes. Read their work, which includes Luxembourg Leaks and Secrecy for Sale.
- The Seattle Times won in the environmental reporting category for its work linking 43 deaths to a mudslide in Oso, Washington. The paper found that state regulators had cut corners, ignored safeguards and ignored warnings. Read their work.
Read the press release for the entire list of winners.
