Honors a single story or series that uncovered significant and impactful news based on the reporters’ own investigation and which advances and serves the public interest.

Jump to:

• Micro Division — Winner: Voices of Monterey Bay
• Small Division — Winner: Jacksonville Today
• Medium Division — Winner: Injustice Watch
• Large Division — Winner: Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, Investigative Journalism Bureau at the University of Toronto, the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland, and partners across Europe

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Best Investigative Journalism Award – Micro division

Voices of Monterey Bay

Covert Immigration Enforcement at Fort Hunter Liggett by George B. Sánchez-Tello

Voices of Monterey Bay found that presumed traffic stops by Fort Hunter Liggett police led to at least 11 deportations since late December — something military officials initially denied. The situation raised concerns about possible military involvement in ICE enforcement operations, and Voices of Monterey Bay’s reporting found evidence supporting that claim, such as witness accounts of people being held in a cell meant only for military personnel. Telling these stories required navigating networks in which officials won’t go on the record and ordinary people are afraid to speak, a judge noted. 

“The impact of this series is magnified by the fact that it is also published in Spanish,” a judge wrote. “Thus, the publication changed government intervention and most likely impacted the lives of the Latino community, perhaps saving some people from getting detained on a lonely road.”

Read the Winning Work

Immigration detentions on Fort Hunter Liggett raise questions about military involvement Jan. 29, 2026

‘I just trusted his uniform’ Feb. 5, 2026

Despite Army denials, evidence mounts of secretive South Monterey County ICE operations Feb. 12, 2026

Las detenciones de inmigrantes en Fort Hunter Liggett plantean preguntas sobre la participación militar (Spanish version) Feb. 15, 2026 

I.C.E. detentions in South Monterey County | Las detenciones migratorias en el sur del condado de Monterey March 30, 2026

Finalists

• The Xylom, ‘All Hell Breaks Loose’: How Big Oil Ruined a Small Texas Town, Alex Ip

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Best Investigative Journalism Award – Small division

Jacksonville Today

The Show Must Go On by Megan Mallicoat

This four-part investigation examines reports of sexual misconduct by teachers at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, a prestigious public school in Jacksonville, Florida. One teacher was arrested in 2023 for inappropriately touching and kissing a student. He had received repeated warnings and informal discipline for troubling behavior — such as angry outbursts, telling a student they looked “sexy” — for years before he was arrested. 

Six teachers accused of sexual misconduct have left the school since that arrest, reporter Megan Mallicoat reported. For example, another male teacher had made lewd comments to students, but there was no school record of an investigation against him. Three years later, he was charged with sexual battery against a 12-year-old girl. He was found guilty of lesser charges, served 10 years of probation, and remains a registered sex offender.

There were at least six others from prior decades who had been accused of sexual misconduct against students and were removed or exited.

Mallicoat’s reporting exposes how school administrators allowed teachers to remain in the classroom despite inappropriate behavior. “This was an enormous undertaking with immediate and long-lasting impact”, a judge wrote. The series “sparked meaningful community discussion, helped people feel seen and heard, and drove real changes in policy and mindset that will improve lives.”

Read the Winning Work

ACT 1 | Douglas Anderson teacher received mostly ‘unofficial’ discipline before arrest July 27, 2025

ACT 2 | Douglas Anderson student accusers lacked faith in school’s response July 28, 2025

ACT 3 | Was Douglas Anderson worse than other schools? District data issues make it hard to compare July 29, 2025

ACT 4 | Douglas Anderson works to step back into spotlight for the right reasons July 30, 2025

Finalists

• The Margin, Licensed to Contaminate and In Toxic Detention, Rico Moore, Bryce Cracknell, Chona Kasinger
• Arizona Luminaria, A Long Way Home, John Washington, Erik López (La Silla Rota), Yana Kunichoff, Carolina Cuellar, Rafael Carranza
• Shasta Scout, Using Suspects’ Faces, RPD Weaves Compellingly Pro-Police Narratives. It’s a Practice that’s Known to Cause Harm, Nevin Kallepalli
• Suncoast Searchlight & Bradenton Herald, Stripmall Casinos, Josh Salman, Derek Gilliam, Michael Moore Jr.

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Best Investigative Journalism Award – Medium division

Injustice Watch

Forensic Failures by Maya Dukmasova

Over about eight years, a forensic toxicology lab at the University of Illinois Chicago tested people’s bodily fluids for DUI-cannabis investigations using scientifically discredited methods and faulty machinery — problems of which lab managers were aware, Injustice Watch reported. Those failures led to wrongful convictions based on scant evidence. The investigation spurred legal changes and raised questions about how flawed science and other failures in the justice system can impede defendants’ rights and case outcomes.

A judge praised the work as a “fantastic piece of investigative journalism.” They said the reporting was important and impactful, and described it as “action-packed yet precise, with strong storytelling that remains clear, persuasive, and grounded in detail.”

“Impeccable work,” they wrote.

Read the Winning Work

Forensic Failures Aug. 14, 2025

Finalists

• MLK50: Justice Through Journalism, No School, No Fresh Air and Isolated: Memphis Youth Held in Solitary Confinement, Rebecca Cadenhead, Charity Scott, Andrea Morales, Kevin Wurm
• The Imprint, State-Sponsored Abandonment, Sara Tiano

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Best Investigative Journalism Award – Large division

The Marshall Project, Reveal (PRX), Mother Jones, Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, Investigative Journalism Bureau at the University of Toronto, the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland, and partners across Europe

Bad Practice by Kira Zalan (OCCRP), Eiliv Frich Flydal⁩ (VG), George Greenwood (The Times)

Reporters from 50 media outlets spanning 45 countries, most in Europe, spent months tracing 100 doctors who were banned in one country but remained licensed and continued practicing in a different country. The investigation exposed gaps in Europe’s healthcare oversight system that endanger lives and how systemic faults cause and worsen that harm. 

The investigative project stands out for its cross-border collaboration and depth of reporting, a judge wrote. “It exposes significant wrongdoing and reflects the power of coordinated investigative journalism.”

Read the Winning Work

Everything You Need to Know About the ‘Bad Practice’ Investigation Oct. 1, 2025

System Failure: How Banned Doctors Move Across Europe, Leaving Patients Vulnerable Oct. 2, 2025

‘Bad Practice’: How We Built a Database of Delicensed Doctors Oct. 17, 2025

An Allegedly ‘Grossly Negligent’ Surgery Exposes Gaps in Europe’s System to Monitor Medical Licensing Jan. 13, 2026

Finalists

• Mongabay, Shark is on the Menu for Millions of People, but Few Know What They’re Eating, Philip Jacobson, Karla Mendes, Fernanda Wenzel, Kuang Keng Kuek Ser
• The Examination and The New York Times, The Poisonous Lead Trade, Will Fitzgibbon, Peter S. Goodman, staff of The Examination and The New York Times