Reuters, BuzzFeed win Polk Awards for biz stories

Joshua Schneyer, Mica Rosenberg and Kristina Cooke of Reuters won a George Polk Award for revealing how staffing agencies in Alabama cashed in on lucrative commissions in a tight labor market by using fake documentation to put migrant children as young as 12 to work in Hyundai auto parts factories and poultry slaughterhouses, subjecting them to injury and abuse.

Their series, “Undocumented and Underage,” sparked increased scrutiny from federal and state agencies and led Hyundai to demand more accountability from its suppliers.

In addition, Kendall Taggart, John Templon, Anthony Cormier and Jason Leopold of BuzzFeed News won a Polk Award for demonstrating how the quality of care diminished after the global private equity firm KKR purchased hundreds of homes for people with severe disabilities.

When publication of their series, “Profit, Pain, and Private Equity,” caught the eye of regulators and legislators, KKR cancelled a planned initial public offering.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.