2018 Single-Topic News (Large Staff) Finalists: ProPublica, The New York Times Staff

“Civil Wrongs”

About the Entry

Under Secretary Betsy DeVos, the U. S. Department of Education has retreated from pursuing civil rights complaints. In their series, reporters Annie Waldman of ProPublica and Erica L. Green of The New York Times document the closure of more 1,200 open investigations, and sensitively portray the human impact of changes to policies and practices within the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights.

Comments from the Judges

“Where these stories really shine is with consistently stellar on-the-ground reporting. There are sections – particularly one dealing with the suicide epidemic among Native American teens – that leave the reader feeling simultaneously furious and heartbroken.”

“The narrative storytelling is powerful, but it’s equally matched by the data analysis and investigative tools….What’s unique about the entry is that the stories are so intense and horrific that they don’t need qualifiers, they don’t need to be emphasized or enlarged in any way. Great storytelling on a topic that will come to define this administration.”