IRE members honored with Peabody Awards

Several members of Investigative Reporters and Editors were named 2013 Peabody Award winners. To learn more about the awards, click here.

• Sebastian Walker of Al Jazeera America won for his participation in the "courageous investigation into an international health scandal," which resulted in "Fault Lines: Haiti in a time of Cholera."
• Anjali Kamat of Al Jazeera America was recognized as the correspondent for "Fault Lines: Made in Bangladesh," which uncovered how corporations like Wal-Mart keep prices low through human rights abuse.
• Mark Fainaru-Wada was honored as a reporter and writer for the Frontline documentary "League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis." The film was cited for its "dogged pursuit of evidence, meticulous argumentation, and willingness to take on the most powerful organization in professional sports."
• Susannah Frame and Russ Walker of KING-Seattle won for their roles in creating "Hanford's Dirty Secrets," a story about "the most dangerous nuclear dump in the United States."
• Russell Goldenberg was honored as the interactive developer for the team that created the "ingeniously constructed" interactive documentary website "Hollow." The site tells the story of the decline of McDowell County West Virginia. 
• Aarne Heikkila, Hannah Rappleye and Lisa Riordan Seville were part of a team of reporters recognized for NBC's series of stories "In Plain Sight: Poverty in America." The Peabody Board described the coverage as a "coordinated effort to educate the public about this increasingly important, underreported topic."
• Greg Phillips, Jr., Manuel Torres, Tom Wright and Lee Zurik of WVUE-New Orleans were recognized as part of the team that produced "Louisiana Purchased," which the Peabody Board called "diligent" and an "unusually accessible expose of a state's labyrinthine campaign-finance system."
• Bryan Staples, Phil Williams and Kevin Wisnieski of WTVF - Nashville were among those who won an award for "NewsChannel 5 Investigates: Questions of Influence." The coverage was praised "for its deep, determined exploration of the realities of what Tennessee’s governor called a “sea change” in the way the state was run."
• Dwayne Bray, Chris Buckle, Mark Fainaru-Wada, Carolyn Hong and William Weinbaum of ESPN won for their "candid, independent reporting" in "NFL at a Crossroads: Investigating a Health Crisis."
• Agustin Armedariz, Aaron Glantz, Susanne Reber and Aaron Williams of the Center for Investigative Reporting were honored for their contribution to "Reveal: The VA's Opiate Overload." Their investigation uncovered an increased in opiate prescriptions from Veteran's Administration hospitals that led to an overdose rate among their patients that was more than twice the national average.