An investigation tracing toxic lead from Nigerian recycling plants into the supply chains of some of the world’s best-known carmakers, and an exposé of Mexico’s booming but largely ineffective surveillance industry, have won top honors in the 2026 Barlett & Steele Awards, which mark 20 years of recognizing the best in investigative business journalism.
The Examination and The New York Times won the Gold Award in the Global/National category for “The Poisonous Lead Trade,” and POPLab and Connectas took Gold in the Regional/Local category for “The Profitability of Fear.” Barron’s reporter Nick Devor received the Outstanding Young Journalist Award for his coverage of the gambling industry.
The Reynolds Center for Business Journalism at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, which administers the awards, will spotlight the top winners at an event Nov. 9 in downtown Phoenix.
“This year’s winners underscore the incredible role in-depth investigative business journalism can play in keeping the public informed about the issues that affect their well-being and way of life,” said James B. Steele, half of the Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative duo Barlett & Steele for whom the awards are named. “Using the latest as well as time-honored reporting tools, these journalists shine a light on abuses committed by powerful interests.”
This is the fifth year that the Barlett and Steele Awards have recognized publications across two distinct categories, Global/National and Regional/Local, in order to honor more of the incredible investigative work being done across the United States. Each category features a Gold, Silver, and Bronze award. These awards come with cash prizes of $3,000, $2,000, and $1,000, respectively. The Outstanding Young Journalist Award features a cash prize of $3,000. The Barlett and Steele Awards are named for the illustrious investigative business journalist team of Donald L. Barlett & James B. Steele.
The Gold Award in the Global/National category was won by a team of reporters from The Examination and The New York Times for an impactful investigation into an American company that supplied some of the world’s most recognizable carmakers with lead from shoddy factories in Nigeria that was poisoning workers and residents. The Poisonous Lead Trade prompted swift reaction from the Nigerian government and attracted widespread attention across the country, while also pressuring American car companies to improve oversight of their supply chain.
The Silver Award in the same category went to an investigation by Reuters reporters that looked into Donald Trump’s crypto wealth and explored the cost to everyday people who believed the president’s promise of a new kind of finance. The Bronze award goes to “Cancer Calculus,” a yearlong investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which revealed a devastating portrait of a health care system that has created global inequity in accessing necessary cancer medications, and the lengths one pharmaceutical company went to ensure prices and revenue remained high.
The Gold Award in the Regional/Local category goes to The Profitability of Fear by a team of reporters from POPLab and Connectas, which covered how insecurity became a big business in Mexico and how the same company that has yet to fulfill promises of safer communities is also expanding its presence in the United States. The investigation revealed patterns of opaque contracting, unverifiable results, and a structure that is bound to invite corruption.
The Silver Award in this category goes to the San Francisco Chronicle for its investigation “Failed to Death,” which exposed how the country’s largest behavioral health companies exploited a state regulatory loophole, allowing the companies to reap massive profits while patients suffered the consequences. The Bronze Award goes to SMUGGLED, a collaboration between The Marshall Project-Cleveland, the Columbus Dispatch, and the Cincinnati Enquirer that investigated the constant flow of illicit drugs into Ohio prisons that has doubled the discipline for incarcerated people, despite millions of tax dollars spent on security upgrades.
The Outstanding Young Journalist Award goes to Nick Devor of Barron’s for a series of coverage on the gambling industry that ranged from the 1-800 addiction helpline to regulating prediction markets and focused on the industry’s massive impact across society and the potential harm to Americans’ wallets and mental health.
“Twenty years after these awards were created to honor the best in investigative business journalism, the change-making work submitted for consideration continues to demonstrate the centrality of business in people’s lives,” said Dr. Jeffrey Timmermans, director of The Reynolds Center for Business Journalism, in a statement. “It’s incredibly encouraging to see such great reporting in such a variety of publications, as well as the collaborative nature of the top entries.”
