Honors reporting that brought new understanding to an issue or topic affecting people or communities that are historically underrepresented, disadvantaged or marginalized, resulting in impactful change.

Jump to:

• Micro Division — Winner: Voices of Monterey Bay
• Small Division — Winner: Borderless Magazine
• Medium Division — Winner: El Tímpano
• Large Division — Winner: City Bureau, Invisible Institute

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Breaking Barriers Award – Micro division

Voices of Monterey Bay

ELDERS: Uncle John by Nancy Marie Spears, Julie Reynolds, Mara J. Reynolds

Voices of Monterey Bay tells a story of Indigenous elder survivors of systemic injustice and historical trauma. This story is part of a multimedia project titled “Healing the Children of Horse Nations.” 

ELDERS is a “beautifully told, personal story of pain, loss and healing,” a judge wrote. “The wide range of voices, including the kids, brings the story to life and makes clear how these injustices — and attempts to remedy them — are multigenerational in scope. The cleanup of the graveyards spurred by the reporting provides a rare example of direct impact of the entry.”

Read the Winning Work

ELDERS: Uncle John

Finalist

• California Health Report, Columns about the disability community, Jennifer McLelland

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Breaking Barriers Award – Small division

Borderless Magazine

Inhumane Conditions and the Early Warning Signs Ignored at Chicago’s Largest Migrant Shelter

Despite “warnings, numerous hospitalizations and dozens of reports,” Chicago officials housed thousands of migrants in an industrial warehouse used as a city-run shelter. A 5-year-old boy who lived there died of sepsis. Those are examples of what Borderless Magazine exposed through its investigation — storytelling one judge described as “excellent work.” “This is the kind of work I aspire to be able to publish in our newsroom,” another judge said.

Read the Winning Work

Investigation: Migrants Describe Inhumane Conditions At Chicago’s Largest Shelter

5-Year-Old Boy Dies After Falling Ill At Chicago’s Largest Migrant Shelter

Chicago Mayor, Shelter Officials Respond To Living Conditions Following A Borderless Investigation

Investigation: Chicago Ignored Dozens Of Warnings Of Migrant Shelter Conditions Before Child’s Death

Finalists

• Center for Collaborative Investigative Journalism (CCIJ), Gender-based Violence by State Actors in Uganda and Zimbabwe
• New Mexico In Depth Inc., New Mexico officials prioritized Murdered and missing Indigenous people. Their actions didn’t match their rhetoric.
• Reasons to be Cheerful, ‘Take It Down and They’ll Return’: The Stunning Revival of the Penobscot River, Kea Krause

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Breaking Barriers Award – Medium division

El Tímpano

A trilingual, multi-format approach to covering California’s Medicaid expansion

A disproportionate number of Latinos — hundreds of thousands of them — have been kicked off Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program. In January, the state expanded Medi-Cal to include all undocumented immigrants. El Tímpano examined why so many Latinos, who make up the majority of Medi-Cal beneficiaries, are being disenrolled and the impact. The news outlet also shared relevant resources online, including Facebook.

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California’s expanded health coverage for undocumented immigrants collides with Medicaid checks

Advocates push bill to expand Covered California to undocumented immigrants

Guía de Recursos

Expansión de Medi-Cal

Finalist

• San Antonio Report, ‘We’re not perfect, we’re just FREED’: Following 3 San Antonians from prison to healing, Bria Woods, Iris Dimmick

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Breaking Barriers Award – Large division

City Bureau, Invisible Institute

Missing in Chicago by Sarah Conway, trina reynolds-tyler

City Bureau and the Invisible Institute analyzed more than 1 million police records and interviewed more than 40 sources over two years for an investigation that exposed how Chicago police delayed and mishandled missing person cases that disproportionately affected Black women and girls. “The spotlight is focused squarely on those seeking answers, with the data unearthing their reality but never becoming the focus of the reporting at the expense of the people at the center of the story,” one judge said. “‘Missing in Chicago’ deserves recognition for its unflinching and impactful examination.”

This seven-part series won a Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting.

Read the Winning Work

Missing in Chicago

Missing in Chicago (YouTube video playlist)

Finalists

• Capitol B, Disconnected: Rural Black America and the Digital Divide, Aallyah Wright
• Rest of World, The race to put Indigenous land on the map, Liani MK