Dreier of NY Times wins WERT Prize for migrant child labor coverage

Hannah Dreier, an investigative reporter at The New York Times, won the WERT Global Prize for outstanding business reporting by a woman for “Alone and Exploited, Migrant Children Work Brutal Jobs Across the U.S.” and related stories exposing a migrant child labor scandal involving some of the world’s largest corporations.

The award is given by the Knight-Bagehot Fellowship in Economics and Business Journalism at Columbia Journalism School.

Dreier’s deeply reported work showed the struggles of real children in the context of the complex global political and economic challenges their families face. The story had immediate impact and led to sweeping changes in how the Department of Labor investigates child labor cases.

“If there’s one comprehensive story to read on the child labor crisis in the United States, this is it,” said judge Kimi Yoshino. “The deeply-reported piece is filled with images and voices of children, which drove home that this is about real kids, juggling school and work — and often the economic demands of their families in other countries — and that it’s not just about statistics and policies. The story tied all the pieces together, setting this crisis against the global geopolitical and economic challenges we’re experiencing today and how that has fueled immigration of unaccompanied minors to the United States. It’s no wonder this story prompted swift and immediate impact.”

The WERT Global Prize honors excellence in comprehensively reported business journalism by a woman that fosters a greater understanding of global business. The WERT Global Prize was established in 2018 and is funded by a bequest from the Women’s Economic Round Table and support from the Muriel F. Siebert Foundation and the global management consulting firm McKinsey & Co.

Thanks to a generous donation by the Siebert Foundation in honor of the 45th anniversary of the Women’s Economic Round Table, this year’s winner will receive $4,500.