With business-labor relations dominating the headlines in recent months, it’s fitting that richly reported accounts of the devastating impact to workers from business practices in two different industries took the top prizes in the 17th Annual Barlett and Steele Awards for Investigative Business Journalism.
The Los Angeles Times won the top honor among global and national publications for its investigation into the legal marijuana industry, while a team of multiple-media journalists topped the regional and local category with an investigation into the health hazards in the manufacturing of kitchen countertops. This year’s award for Outstanding Young Journalist goes to Ava Kofman for her investigation into the hospice industry jointly published by ProPublica and The New Yorker.
This is the second 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 reported in the U.S. 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 Young Journalist Award features a cash prize of $3,000.
The awards are named for the illustrious investigative business journalist team of Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele, who have worked together for more than four decades, receiving two Pulitzer Prizes, two National Magazine awards, and a long list of other journalism awards.
“This year’s winning stories are a dramatic affirmation of why investigative reporting is crucial to democracy. Using the latest as well as time-honored tools of reporting, these journalists highlight both personal and systemic abuses in our society by powerful interests. Don and I are very proud to have our names associated with work of this quality and importance,” said Steele in a statement.
The Gold Award in the Global/National category was won by the Los Angeles Times for “Legal Weed, Broken Promises,” highlighting the unintended consequences of legalizing cannabis in the state of California. This included crime, corruption, and the swallowing up of scarce natural resources for a level of cannabis production that greatly outpaced the consumption and demand for it in the state.
The Gold Award in the Regional/Local category went to a collaborative effort by Public Health Watch, KPCC/Laist, and Univision for detailing the deadly lung disease killing workers in the Los Angeles area involved in the production of artificial stone countertops. Working without proper protective gear or sufficient ventilation, these workers inhaled dust particles that shredded their lungs. The power of this story led to steps to ban unsafe work practices in these workshops, saving numerous lives.
The award for Outstanding Young Journalist was given to Kofman for “The Hospice Hustle” an investigation co-published by ProPublica and The New Yorker that provoked a national conversation on the American way of death along with widespread demands for its reform.
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