2011 The book Stealth of Nations, by the winner of the Robert I. Friedman award, Robert Neuwirth was published – When we think of the informal economy, we tend to think of crime: prostitution, gun running, drug trafficking. Stealth of Nations opens up this underground realm, showing how the worldwide informal economy deals mostly in legal products and is, in fact, a ten-trillion-dollar ...
2011 The Chicago Reporter – Its investigation of the State of Illinois’ contracts with minority and disabled business owners finds limited impact, missed goals. Photo by: Jason Reblando. “Empty Jackpot“: Illinois celebrates its program to steer state contracts to businesses owned by minorities, women and people with a disability. But a closer look shows the state may not be fulfilling its goals. “Less ...
2011 Jarrett Murphy – In the September/October issue of City Limits, an investigative magazine based in New York City, Murphy explores whether the New York Fire Department has learned lessons from Sept. 11 and – as important – after firefighters die in routine fires. “The prospect of another Sept. 11 is as unlikely as it is terrifying. Fires in basements and factories ...
2011 Scott Carney, Jason Miklian, and Kristian Hoelscher – “Felani wore her gold bridal jewelry as she crouched out of sight inside the squalid concrete building. The 15-year-old’s father, Nurul Islam, peeked cautiously out the window and scanned the steel and barbed-wire fence that demarcates the border between India and Bangladesh. The fence was the last obstacle to Felani’s wedding, arranged for ...
2011 Trevor Aaronson – For Mother Jones, Aaronson writes: “The FBI has built a massive network of spies to prevent another domestic attack. But are they busting terrorist plots-or leading them?” From his article, The Informants: “Here’s how it works: Informants report to their handlers on people who have, say, made statements sympathizing with terrorists. Those names are then cross-referenced with existing intelligence ...
2011 Mary Lou Simms – For McClatchy-Tribune News Service, Simms reports on the U. S. Department of Agriculture program that exterminates wild birds and animals: “Wildlife Services is the little-known branch of the USDA deemed largely responsible for geese slaughters coast to coast. Buried under several layers of bureaucracy, Wildlife Services prefers to stay under the radar. However, a copy of a ...
2011 Isabel Morales and Julian Resendiz with photojournalist William Fernando Martinez – Bogota, COLOMBIA — The death of her 20-year-old son at the hands of Colombia’s military was but the beginning of Gloria Mancera’s ordeal. In the four years that followed, Mancera, 44, fled her small farm in the town of Granada with her daughters in tow, changed her name, slept ...
2011 Jason Berry – In “Render Unto Rome: The Secret Life of Money in the Catholic Church,” Jason Berry exposes the secrecy and deceit that run counter to the values of the Catholic Church. There is no doubt that historically the Catholic Church has been one of the great engines of charity in history. But what happens to tens of ...
2011 Sue Sturgis – In a five part series published by Facing South, Sturgis reports that one year after the BP oil catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, a growing number of cleanup workers and coastal residents are reporting debilitating health problems associated with exposure to toxic chemicals in crude oil and dispersants. Faced with inaction from the federal government, victims are ...
2011 City Limits – In the May/June issue of City Limits, Kelly Virella examines what sexual abuse reports reveal about how New York’s prisons track and investigate sexual misconduct, the history of legal wrangling and labor rules behind prison policies, and the nuances of sex and “romance” in women’s prisons. The investigation reveals facts crucial to understanding and preventing prison sex abuse. ...