Olivia Carville, an investigative reporter at Bloomberg News, won the WERT Prize for “Airbnb’s Nightmare,” and follow-ups that unveiled how Airbnb’s elite trust-and-safety team works to keep crime and safety violations at Airbnb properties out of the news.
“This deep dive into the company’s strategy with details about the trust-and-safety team — a team I was unaware of until reading the story — was an eye-opening look at the challenges facing the company and the lengths it goes to limit the fallout,” wrote one judge.
The story highlights how much is at stake for a company whose mission is based on strangers trusting strangers and is notable not only for its reporting and storytelling but also for its impact. Airbnb revised its terms of service to allow sexual assault survivors to sue the company in court rather than go through arbitration. Expedia and TripAdvisor updated their safety policies, and short-term rental platforms agreed to share information on dangerous listings to better protect users.
The WERT Prize honors excellence in comprehensively reported business journalism by a woman that fosters a greater understanding of global business.
It 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 & Company.
