Child labor coverage wins Goldsmith Prize

Hannah Dreier of The New York Times has won the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting for her coverage of the rise of child labor in the United States.

In this 20-month long investigation, Dreier uncovered a culture of careless disregard for child labor laws at construction sites, slaughterhouses and in factories across the country and a “chain of willful ignorance” at every point in the system meant to protect children from exploitation.

Dreier earned the trust of hundreds of migrant children, federal contractors, investigators and auditors, government social workers, and sources at the highest levels of the White House and federal agencies to bring the truth to light.

The impact of her investigation was swift and prompted immediate reforms across state and federal agencies as well as dozens of major corporations and brands. Read the reporting.

The Goldsmith Prize, first awarded in 1993 and funded by a gift from the Greenfield Foundation, honors the best public service investigative journalism that has made an impact on local, state, or federal public policy or the practice of politics in the United States.