2018 Livingston Award Finalists Announced

 

The Livingston Awards for Young Journalists and the University of Michigan announce the 2018 finalists in local, national and international reporting. The finalists, selected from over 500 entries, will move to the final round of judging. The awards honor the best reporting and storytelling by journalists under the age of 35 across all forms of journalism.

The national judges will introduce the winners on June 6, 2018, at a New York City luncheon.

Funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the University of Michigan to support the vital role of a free and independent press, the awards bolster the work of young reporters, create the next generation of journalism leaders and advance civic engagement around powerful storytelling. Other sponsors include the Indian Trail Charitable Foundation, the Mollie Parnis Livingston Foundation, Christiane Amanpour and Dr. Gil Omenn and Martha Darling.

“The exceptional work of the Livingston Awards finalists demonstrates the singular power of journalism to document and interpret the issues and events shaping our times. It is a privilege to recognize such a broad range of talented reporters, committed to bringing depth, nuance and truth to our understanding of the world.

The national judges will introduce the winners on June 6, 2018, at a New York City luncheon.

The Livingston Awards regional judges read all qualifying entries to select the finalists in local, national and international reporting. The regional judging panel includes: Raney Aronson-Rath, executive producer, “Frontline,” PBS; Molly Ball, national political correspondent, Time; Stella Chávez, education reporter, KERA Public Radio; Chris Davis, Vice-President of Investigative Journalism, Gannett; David Greene, host, “Morning Edition,” NPR; Stephen Henderson, host, “Detroit Today,” WDET; and Shirley Leung, columnist, The Boston Globe.

The Livingston Awards national judges review all finalist entries and select the winners. The national judges are Christiane Amanpour, chief international correspondent, CNNi and host, “Amanpour on PBS”; Ken Auletta, author and media and communications writer, The New Yorker; Dean Baquet, executive editor, The New York Times; John Harris, editor-in-chief and co-founder, Politico; Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune; Anna Quindlen, author; María Elena Salinas, host, “The Real Story with María Elena Salinas,” Investigation Discovery; Bret Stephens, op-ed columnist, The New York Times; and Kara Swisher, executive editor, Recode

Following are the 2018 finalists, for work produced in 2017. Links to their work here.

Looking for ways to stretch your student budget? Check out save coupons and enjoy amazing discounts on a wide range of products and services.

Local Reporting

  • Evan Allen, Nicole Dungca and Jan Ransom, The Boston Globe
  • Bethany Barnes, The Oregonian/OregonLive
  • Neil Bedi, Jonathan Capriel, Anastasia Dawson and Kathleen McGrory, Tampa Bay Times
  • Jonathan Blitzer, The New Yorker
  • Lauren Caruba, San Antonio Express-News
  • Christopher Collins, The Texas Observer
  • Jose A. Del Real, The New York Times
  • Jonathan Edwards, The Virginian-Pilot
  • Mike Hixenbaugh and Mark Mulligan, Houston Chronicle
  • Vivian Ho, San Francisco Chronicle
  • Ed Mahon, York Daily Record/Sunday News
  • Tracy Mumford, Riham Feshir, Meg Martin, Minnesota Public Radio News
  • Tricia L. Nadolny, Philadelphia Media Network
  • Ese Olumhense, City Limits in partnership with The Investigative Fund
  • Maria Perez, Naples Daily News
  • Gregory Pratt, Chicago Tribune
  • Raven Rakia, The Intercept
  • Bigad Shaban, Michael Bott and Rachel Witte, NBC Bay Area (KNTV)
  • Joy Lukachick Smith and Joan Garrett McClane, Chattanooga Times Press
  • Stephen Stirling and S.P. Sullivan, NJ Advance Media (The Star-Ledger/NJ.com)

 National Reporting

  • Stan Alcorn, Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX
  • Amy Brittain and Irin Carmon, The Washington Post
  • Brian Burnsed, Sports Illustrated
  • Alana Casanova-Burgess, “On the Media,” WNYC Radio
  • Eliana Dockterman, Haley Sweetland Edwards, Kaitlyn Emerson, Spencer Bakalar, Julia Lull and Diane Tsai, Time
  • Steve Dorsey, CBS News
  • Ronan Farrow, The New Yorker
  • Emmanuel Felton, The Hechinger Report/The Nation
  • Cat Ferguson, The Verge
  • Connie Fossi, Daniel Rivero, Laura Juncadella and Kristofer Rios, Fusion
  • Brian Freskos, The Trace
  • Damian Garde, STAT
  • Rachel Glickhouse, ProPublica
  • Henry Grabar, Slate
  • Amy Julia Harris and Shoshana Walter, Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting
  • Sara Jerving, Vice News
  • Taylor Mirfendereski, KING 5
  • Brett Murphy, USA TODAY Network
  • Emily Steel and Michael S. Schmidt, The New York Times
  • John Woodrow Cox, The Washington Post
  • Jie Jenny Zou and Chris Young, The Center for Public Integrity

 International Reporting

  • Kimberly Brooks and Roberto Daza, Fusion Media Group
  • Mansi Choksi, Harper’s Magazine
  • Will Fitzgibbon, International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
  • Susannah George, The Associated Press
  • Christina Goldbaum, The Daily Beast
  • May Jeong, In These Times
  • Jacob Kushner, Foreign Policy
  • Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times
  • Micah Loewinger, “On the Media,” WNYC Radio
  • Lizzie Presser, The California Sunday Magazine
  • Kenneth R. Rosen, The Atavist Magazine
  • Juliana Schatz Preston, Show of Force
  • Kevin Sieff, The Washington Post
  • Ben C. Solomon, The New York Times
  • Sushma Subramanian, Slate

More on the finalists and links to their work »

Wallace House Presents Bret Stephens of The New York Times

Bret Stephens
Bret Stephens, New York Times columnist

“Free Speech and the Necessity of Discomfort”

February 20, 2018 | 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre
University of Michigan
911 N. University Avenue
Free and open to the public

View video »

Join the conversation

New York Times columnist Bret Stephens calls disagreement “the most vital ingredient of any decent society.” Being able to reasonably take issue with an asserted stance or belief, he argues, enlarges our perspectives and energizes our progress. Shutting down disagreeable speech does more to imperil our principles than uphold them. Yet in this era of coarse polarization, the art of thoughtful disagreement has given way to hostile close-mindedness. And tolerance is often misinterpreted as the absence of discomfort.

Join Bret Stephens and Wallace House for a provocative discussion on the role of social and personal discomfort in education and its necessity in a functional democracy.

About the Speaker

Bret L. Stephens joined The New York Times as an Op-Ed columnist in April 2017. He came to The Times after a long career with The Wall Street Journal, where he was deputy editorial-page editor and, for 11 years, foreign affairs columnist. Before that, he was editor in chief of The Jerusalem Post. At The Post he oversaw the paper’s news, editorial and digital operations and its international editions, and also wrote a weekly column. He has reported from around the world and interviewed scores of world leaders.

Stephens is a Livingston Awards national judge. Winner of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for commentary, he is the author of “America in Retreat: The New Isolationism and the Coming Global Disorder.” He was raised in Mexico City and holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Chicago and a master of science from the London School of Economics. He lives in New York and Hamburg, Germany.

For questions about the event email: WallaceHouseEvents@umich.edu

Co-sponsored by U-M College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.
This is a U-M 2018 series event “Speech and Inclusion: Recognizing Conflict and Building Tools for Engagement.”

Molly Ball Appointed to the Livingston Awards Judging Panel

 

Molly Ball
Molly Ball, National Political Correspondent
for Time

Wallace House is pleased to announce the addition of award-winning political reporter and Knight-Wallace alum, Molly Ball, to the Livingston Awards’ judging panel.

A prominent voice on U.S. politics, Ball serves as National Political Correspondent for TIME, covering the Trump administration, the national political climate, personalities, policy debates, and campaigns across America. She is also a political analyst for CNN and frequent television and radio commentator.

“Molly Ball brings a keen, intuitive eye and astute sensibility to everything she approaches,” says Lynette Clemetson, Wallace House director. “We are pleased to have her join us as a Livingston Awards regional judge. It is especially meaningful that Molly was a Knight-Wallace Fellow with a deep connection to our mission. We look forward to all she will add to our collegial and dedicated group of judges.”

Prior to joining TIME, Ball was a staff writer covering U.S. politics for The Atlantic. She previously reported for Politico, the Las Vegas Review-Journal and the Las Vegas Sun. She has worked for newspapers in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Cambodia, as well as The New York Times and The Washington Post.

Ball is the recipient of the Toner Prize for Excellence in Political Reporting, the Sandy Hume Memorial Award for Excellence in Political Journalism and the Lee Walczak Award for Political Analysis for her coverage of political campaigns.

“Molly Ball brings a keen, intuitive eye and astute sensibility to everything she approaches,” says Lynette Clemetson, Wallace House director.

A graduate of Yale University, she was a 2009-2010 Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellow at the University of Michigan. Ball grew up in Idaho and Colorado. She lives in Virginia with her husband and three children.

The regional judges read all qualifying entries and select the finalists in local, national and international reporting categories. In addition to Ball, the regional judging panel includes: Stella Chávez, education reporter, KERA public radio (Dallas); Chris Davis, Vice President of Investigative Journalism, Gannett; David Greene, host, “Morning Edition,” NPR; Stephen Henderson, host, “Detroit Today,” WDET; Shirley Leung, columnist, The Boston Globe; and Raney Aronson-Rath, executive producer, “Frontline,” PBS.

The Livingston Awards national judges review all final entries and meet to select the winners in local, national and international reporting. The national judging panel includes: Christiane Amanpour, chief international correspondent, CNN, and host of “Amanpour on PBS,” PBS; Ken Auletta, media and communications writer, The New Yorker; Dean Baquet, executive editor, The New York Times; John Harris, editor-in-chief and co-founder, POLITICO; Clarence Page, syndicated columnist; Anna Quindlen, author; María Elena Salinas, host, “The Real Story with María Elena Salinas,” Investigation Discovery; Bret Stephens, op-ed columnist, The New York Times; and Kara Swisher co-founder and executive editor of Recode.

The Livingston Awards is now accepting entries for 2017 work. Entry deadline in February 1, 2018.

Support the Essential Work of Journalism

 

When you received your Wallace House Journal last month a small blue box on the lower half of page five may have caught your eye. It read DONATE. I hope it prompted you toward action. Journalists often approach charitable giving cautiously, lest an act of generosity at some point be construed as bias. It’s a wise caution. But one cause journalists can support without hesitation, of course, is journalism. And supporting Wallace House is a concrete way to bolster the careers and wellbeing of journalists.

At a time when our profession is being openly and regularly maligned, Wallace House is expanding its reach and standing up for the vital work of journalists.

  • We’re convening more public events in an effort to increase media literacy and engage people in conversations with journalists on important issues.
  • We’re increasing outreach for the Knight-Wallace Fellowships to ensure that we’re attracting the diverse multi-skilled range of talent needed to propel today’s newsrooms.
  • We’re broadening our partnerships to provide our Fellows with access to the most relevant resources, experts and experiences related to their individual study and to the industry.
  • We’re extending the platform of the Livingston Awards, creating opportunities for our local, national and international winners to share their stories beyond the original audiences and extend the impact of their work.

Your donation will help Wallace House create and sustain this work. With your help we can bring award-winning journalists to campus to talk about the biggest news stories of the moment; feature our Livingston Award winners at conferences to train young reporters in ambitious reporting projects; create workshops to help our Fellows develop new storytelling skills, present the Livingston Lectures to areas of the country where journalism is viewed skeptically; develop new international partnerships to expand our overseas news tours.

While our Fellowship program has a generous endowment, expanding our programs requires additional resources. At the same time, we are working to build an endowment for the Livingston Awards to secure the continuation of the prestigious prizes for years to come.  Your donation toward our operational costs – no matter the amount – demonstrates to foundations and individual donors of major gifts that the people who benefit from the work of Wallace House believe in the enduring value of its programs.

Lisa Gartner at Livingston Lecture

If you’ve been a Knight-Wallace Fellow or a Livingston Award winner, you know how life changing our programs can be. If you are not among our alumni, but you’ve encountered Wallace House through our programs and the journalists selected for them, you know the high caliber of the people and work we support and the intellectual and creative value they add at the University of Michigan and around the country.

Support the essential work of journalists by including Wallace House in your end-of-year giving. You can direct your gift to the Knight-Wallace Fellowships for Journalists, the Livingston Awards for Young Journalists or the Wallace House Annual Fund, which provides flexible support to both programs.

A gift to Wallace House is a show of support for truth, accountability and the vital role of a free and independent press in a democratic society.

Please, help us help journalists. Donate.

Lynette Clemetson is Director of Wallace House. She was a 2010 Knight-Wallace Fellow. You can reach her at clemetly@umich.edu or wallacehouse@umich.edu. Follow her on Twitter @lclemetson

2017 Livingston Awards Finalists Announced

Liv Awards

 

The Livingston Awards for Young Journalists and the University of Michigan announced today the 2017 finalists in local, national and international reporting. The finalists, selected from hundreds of entries, will move to the final round of judging. The awards honor the best reporting and storytelling by journalists under the age of 35 in print, broadcast and digital journalism.

The national judges will introduce the winners on June 6, 2017, at a New York City luncheon.

Funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the University of Michigan to support the vital role of a free and independent press, the awards bolster the work of young reporters, create the next generation of journalism leaders and advance civic engagement around powerful storytelling.

“The exceptional quality and range of the finalists is a testament to the vital work journalists are doing every day to foster understanding and accountability locally, nationally and internationally,” says Livingston Awards director, Lynette Clemetson.

The Livingston Awards regional judges read all qualifying entries to select the finalists in local, national and international reporting. The regional judging panel includes: Raney Aronson-Rath, executive producer, “Frontline,” PBS; Stella Chávez, education reporter, KERA Public Radio (Dallas); Chris Davis, Vice-President of Investigative Journalism, Gannett; David Greene, host, “Morning Edition,” NPR; Stephen Henderson, editorial and opinion editor, Detroit Free Press; Shirley Leung, columnist, The Boston Globe; and Amy Silverman, managing editor, Phoenix New Times.

The Livingston Awards national judges review all finalist entries and meet to select the winners. The national judges are Christiane Amanpour, chief international correspondent, CNN; Ken Auletta, author and media and communications writer, The New Yorker; Dean Baquet, executive editor, The New York Times; John Harris, editor-in-chief and co-founder, Politico; Clarence Page, columnist and editorial board member, Chicago Tribune; Anna Quindlen, author; María Elena Salinas, anchor, Univision News; Bret Stephens, op-ed columnist, The New York Times; and Kara Swisher co-founder and executive editor, Recode

Following are the 2017 finalists, for work produced in 2016:

International Reporting:

  • Heidi Blake and John Templon, BuzzFeed News and BBC
  • Samantha Bresnahan, CNN
  • Zach Dorfman, The Atavist Magazine
  • Hannah Dreier, The Associated Press
  • Alice Fordham, NPR
  • Mike Giglio and Munzer al-Awad, BuzzFeed News
  • Nelufar Hedayat, Lottie Gammon and Stefano Pozzebon, Fusion
  • Kevin Sieff, The Washington Post
  • Ben C. Solomon, The New York Times
  • Megan Specia and Yara Bishara, The New York Times
  • John Sutter, Bryce Urbany, Deborah Brunswick and Matt Gannon, CNN
  • Ben Taub, The New Yorker
  • Francesca Trianni, Time
  • Elisabeth Zerofsky, Harper’s

National Reporting:

  • Tina Antolini, Gravy Podcast
  • Shane Bauer and James West, Mother Jones
  • Christopher Baxter and Matthew Stanmyre, NJ Advance Media (The Star-Ledger/NJ.com)
  • Fernanda Echavarri and Marlon Bishop, Latino USA/NPR
  • John Eligon, The New York Times
  • Lyndsey Gilpin, High Country News
  • Eli Hager and Alysia Santo, The Marshall Project
  • Amy Julia Harris, Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting
  • Jarrad Henderson, USA Today
  • Brooke Jarvis, The California Sunday Magazine
  • Jackie Jesko, “Nightline,” ABC News
  • Dana Liebelson, Ryan Reilly and Shane Shifflett, The Huffington Post
  • Terrence McCoy, The Washington Post
  • Lillian Mongeau, The Hechinger Report
  • Eli Saslow, The Washington Post
  • Catherine Shoichet and Evelio Contreras, CNN
  • Brandon Sneed, Bleacher Report
  • Mike Spies, The Trace
  • Sarah Stillman, The New Yorker
  • Reeves Wiedeman, New York Magazine

Local Reporting:

  • Amy Brittain, The Washington Post
  • Ricardo Cano and Caitlin McGlade, The Arizona Republic
  • Jacob Carpenter, Naples Daily News
  • Courtney Crowder, The Des Moines Register
  • Claire Galofaro, The Associated Press
  • Sarah Gonzalez, WNYC
  • Molly Harbarger, The Oregonian/OregonLive
  • Paul Heintz, Seven Days
  • Stephen Hobbs, Sun-Sentinel (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.)
  • Kala Kachmar, Asbury Park Press
  • Vince Lattanzio and Morgan Zalot, NBC10 Philadelphia (WCAU)
  • Andy Mannix, Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minn.
  • Jonah Newman, The Chicago Reporter
  • Brian Rosenthal, Houston Chronicle
  • Zachary Sampson, Laura Morel and Eli Murray, Tampa Bay Times
  • Neena Satija, Kiah Collier, Al Shaw, Jeff Larson and Ryan Murphy, ProPublica and The Texas Tribune;
  • Alex Stuckey, The Salt Lake Tribune
  • Sisi Wei, Lena Groeger, Cezary Podkul and Ken Schwencke, ProPublica

 
More on the finalists and links to their work »

Bret Stephens of The Wall Street Journal Appointed to the Livingston Awards National Judging Panel

Bret Stephens
Bret Stephens of The Wall Street Journal

Wallace House is pleased to announce the addition of Bret Stephens of The Wall Street Journal to the Livingston Awards’ national judging panel.

Stephens is the foreign-affairs columnist for The Wall Street Journal,  a member of the paper’s editorial board and the deputy editor of the editorial page, responsible for international opinion. He was awarded the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Commentary for his column “Global View,” receiving the honor for “his incisive columns on American foreign policy and domestic politics, often enlivened by a contrarian twist.” He is a regular panelist on “Journal Editorial Report,” a weekly political show carried by Fox News.

Stephens joined the Journal in 1998, worked for the paper in New York and later in Brussels. In January 2002, he was named editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post, a position he assumed at age 28. At the Post he was responsible for the paper’s news, opinion, digital and foreign-language operations, and also wrote a weekly column. Stephens returned to the Journal in late 2004. He has reported stories from around the globe and interviewed scores of world leaders.

“Recognizing and supporting high quality journalism is more important now than it has ever been,” says Lynette Clemetson, director of Wallace House. “The Livingston Awards affirm the very best in our profession. Bret brings an impressive journalistic range and a keen eye for excellence across a variety of platforms and styles that will further bolster our accomplished group of judges.”

In November, Livingston Awards announced the addition of María Elena Salinas of Univision News and Stella M. Chávez of the Houston NPR affiliate, KERA. Salinas joined the Livingston Awards national judging panels. Chávez joined the Livingston Awards regional judging panel.

The Livingston Awards national judges review all final entries and meet to select the winners in local, national and international reporting. In addition to Stephens and Salinas, the national judging panel includes: Christiane Amanpour, chief international correspondent, CNN; Ken Auletta, media and communications writer, The New Yorker; Dean Baquet, executive editor, The New York Times; John Harris, editor-in-chief and co-founder, Politico; Clarence Page, syndicated columnist; Anna Quindlen, author; and Kara Swisher co-founder and executive editor of Recode.

The regional judges read all qualifying entries and select the finalists in local, national and international reporting categories. In addition to Chávez, the regional judging panel includes: David Greene, host, “Morning Edition,” NPR; Stephen Henderson, editorial and opinion editor, Detroit Free Press; Shirley Leung, columnist, The Boston Globe, Raney Aronson-Rath, executive producer, “Frontline,” PBS and Amy Silverman, managing editor, Phoenix New Times.

 

The Livingston Lectures with Adrian Chen

The Livingston Lectures“Russian Trolls: Is an Underground Online
Army Manipulating U.S. Politics?”

November 30, 2016 | 7:00 PM
WGBH, Yawkey Theater
One Guest Street
Boston, MA

Event is free.
Reception with speakers following the discussion.
RSVP required»


The Livingston Lectures present an evening with David Greene, host of NPR’s “Morning Edition;” Adrian Chen, winner of the 2016 Livingston Award for International Reporting; Vasily Gatov, media researcher and author; and Raney Aronson-Rath, executive producer of PBS’s Frontline.

In 2015, journalist Adrian Chen’s New York Times Magazine story unveiled a shadowy internet trolling organization in St. Petersburg, Russia, and raised the subject of the Russian government embracing social media to influence public opinion. For that story, Chen received the 2016 Livingston Award for International Reporting. The panel will discuss Russia’s current role in the U.S. presidential election and examine how power and money work to distort social media, a presumably pro-democratic tool.

David Greene is co-host of NPR’s “Morning Edition.” Previously, Greene was an NPR foreign correspondent based in Moscow covering the region from Ukraine and the Baltics, east to Siberia. Greene has been a Livingston Awards judge since 2013.

Adrian Chen is a staff writer for The New Yorker. Previously he wrote about the internet and technology for New York, Wired, The New York Times Magazine and other publications.

Vasily Gatov is a Russian media researcher and author based in Boston. He has more than 28 years of professional experience in domestic and international media and is currently working on a book about censorship in Russia.

Raney Aronson-Rath is the executive producer of PBS’s Frontline. Under her leadership, Frontline has won every major award in broadcast journalism. For more than a decade, she has been a Livingston Awards judge.

The event is co-sponsored by WGBH and Frontline.

 

Livingston Award Showcase: The Impact of Journalism

Three Livingston Award recipients reflect on the effect their winning work has had on policy and people’s lives.

 

 

Closeup of armed security guard's gun in holster“Hired Guns” Spurs Reform in California Law

By Shoshana Walter, 2015 co-winner for national reporting

When we first began reporting on the armed security guard industry, we hoped the investigation would be eye-opening.

As a nation, we have become increasingly reliant on armed guards. They are often a go-to solution after mass shootings, robberies and street violence. But few people are aware of the poor regulation and oversight of guards with guns – a patchwork system of state laws that require little training and vetting, and too often leave guns in the hands of guards ill-equipped to use them.

The “Hired Guns” project not only opened eyes, it prompted change. In September, Governor Jerry Brown of California signed reforms into law. The new regulations make California’s oversight of the security guard industry one of the strongest in the country.

Among a raft of changes, the law requires armed security guards to pass a mental-health evaluation, a standard for police officers across the country. It also calls for state regulators to take action against an armed guard if he or she is discovered to be mentally unstable, violent or a threat to public safety. Previously, regulators rarely investigated security guard shootings, choosing instead to act only after a criminal conviction. The new regulations also require inspections of firearm training facilities, a move that could eradicate fraudulent programs that allow guards to purchase certificates without actually learning how to use their guns.

We are proud to have received a Livingston Award for this project. The only thing more rewarding is knowing that the stories had an effect on public policy, and will hopefully improve public safety for years to come.

Shoshana Walter and Ryan Gabrielson won the Livingston Award in the national reporting category for the Center for Investigative Reporting series, “Hired Guns,” an investigation of the haphazard system of lax regulation, weak screening standards and little to no training for armed security guards. Walter and Gabrielson compiled data on every state and uncovered cases where violent felons, mentally ill individuals, and former police officers with civil rights violations were able to obtain jobs as armed security guards.

 

 

mobile-home

US Lawmakers React to Mike Baker and Daniel Wagner’s Clayton Homes Investigation 

By Mike Baker, 2016 co-winner for national reporting

After we published our initial Clayton Homes stories in the spring of 2015, lawmakers in Congress cited our work during debate over a plan that would weaken consumer protection laws. The New York Times referred to our investigation in two editorials, using the findings to argue that the protections for mobile-home buyers should remain in place. So far, they have. And the first question Warren Buffett faced at his annual gathering of Berkshire Hathaway shareholders was about our Clayton findings.

After our later coverage exposed how Clayton preys on minority customers, members of Congress called for the Justice Department and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to investigate. U.S. Representative Maxine Waters said she was “appalled” by the “sleazy and deceptive practices” identified by the article. The CFPB said in February it was “evaluating actions” to take in response. The Justice Department is also reviewing the matter. Lawmakers have since asked the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to examine how Clayton treats its employees and customers.

Mike Baker of The Seattle Times,and Daniel Wagner of The Center for Public Integrity and BuzzFeed News, won the Livingston Award in the national reporting category for “The Mobile-Home Trap,” an investigation into the predatory practices of Warren Buffett’s mobile-home empire. The series revealed how Clayton Homes, a part of the Berkshire-Hathaway conglomerate, and its lending subsidiaries target minority homebuyers and lock them into ruinous high-interest loans.

 

 

St. Petersburg, RussiaKremlin Denies Role in Russian Trolling

By Adrian Chen, 2016 winner for international reporting

The Internet Research Agency’s (IRA) English-language activities appeared to halt immediately after my feature was published. The write-up also forced the Kremlin to publicly address the agency for the first time. At a press conference in June, a spokesperson for Russian President Vladimir Putin denied any knowledge of, or involvement with, the agency. Since then, Lyudmila Savchuk, one of the subjects of my story, sued IRA for labor violations and was awarded one ruble in damages. It was a symbolic judgement, but a small victory for Savchuk, as it proved the agency’s existence and her employment there.

Adrian Chen won the Livingston Award in the international reporting category for his New York Times Magazine feature, “The Agency,” a story about the Internet Research Agency, a social media trolling organization located in St. Petersburg, Russia that was responsible for spreading pro-Kremlin propaganda and manufacturing false stories of environmental disasters in the U.S.

Livingston Awards Finalists Move to Final Round of Judging

The Livingston Awards for Young Journalists and the University of Michigan announce the 2016 finalists in local, national and international reporting. The finalists, who represent the top ten percent of entries received, will move to the final round of judging. The awards honor the best professionals under the age of 35 in traditional and new forms of journalism.

2006 Finalists graphicFunded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the University of Michigan to support a new emphasis on digital media efforts, the program continues to see an increase in digital submissions, with a 20 percent increase in digital entries over last year. Since the funding initiative began three years ago, digital entries increased 170 percent and overall entries increased 65 percent.

The Livingston Awards national judging panel reviews all final entries and meets in person to select the winners in local, national and international reporting. The national judges are Christiane Amanpour, host of CNN International’s “Amanpour” and chief international correspondent for CNN; Ken Auletta, media and communications writer for The New Yorker; Dean Baquet, executive editor, The New York Times; Ellen Goodman, author, co-founder and director of The Conversation Project; John Harris, editor-in-chief, POLITICO; Clarence Page, syndicated columnist; Anna Quindlen, author; and Kara Swisher, executive editor, Re/code, host of Re/code Decode podcast and co-executive producer of Code Conference.

“Being named a finalist signifies high achievement and the promise of more and even better things to come,” said Charles Eisendrath, Livingston Awards founding director. “Each year, the judging process begins with a reading out of the names, titles and subjects of this fine work. Then follows a discussion among the judges that I consider the best seminar of the year about the ingredients of great journalism, no matter in which branch of the media.”

The national judges will introduce the winners on June 8, 2016, at a New York City luncheon.

Following are the 2016 finalists.

International Reporting:

  • Jake Abrahamson, Sierra Magazine
  • Adrian Chen, The New York Times Magazine
  • Joseph Goldstein, The New York Times
  • Brooke Jarvis, The California Sunday Magazine
  • Azmat Khan, BuzzFeed News
  • Natasha Khan and Hui Li, Bloomberg News
  • Simon Ostrovsky, VICE News
  • Jennifer Percy, The New York Times Magazine
  • J. Weston Phippen, The Atlantic
  • Scott Sayare, Harper’s Magazine
  • Kevin Sieff, The Washington Post
  • Christian Stephen, Freelance Society Productions
  • Alice Su, Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting and The Atlantic

 

National Reporting:

  • Rachel Aviv, The New Yorker
  • Mike Baker and Daniel Wagner, The Seattle Times, The Center for Public Integrity and BuzzFeed News
  • Caitlin Dickerson, NPR
  • Catherine Dunn, International Business Times
  • Robert Faturechi, ProPublica
  • David Ferry, Mother Jones
  • Alissa Figueroa and Connie Fossi, Fusion
  • Azeen Ghorayshi, BuzzFeed News
  • Dana Goldstein, The Marshall Project in partnership with Slate
  • Michael Grabell and Lena Groeger, ProPublica
  • Lindsey Konkel, Newsweek
  • Jeff Larson, ProPublica
  • Dana Liebelson, The Huffington Post
  • Dan Lieberman, Fusion
  • Rachel Monroe, Matter
  • Tricia L. Nadolny, The Philadelphia Inquirer
  • Anahad O’Connor, The New York Times
  • Steve Reilly, USA Today
  • Alysia Santo, The Marshall Project
  • Eli Saslow, The Washington Post
  • Joseph Walker, The Wall Street Journal

 

Local Reporting:

  • Jonathan Blitzer, The Oxford American
  • Susanne Cervenka, Asbury Park Press
  • Justin Fenton, The Baltimore Sun
  • Jessica Floum, Sarasota Herald Tribune
  • Gus Garcia-Roberts, Newsday (Long Island, NY)
  • Caitlin Gibson, The Washington Post
  • Mike Hixenbaugh and Jason Paladino, The Virginian-Pilot in partnership with the Investigative Reporting Program and NBC News
  • Mirela Iverac, WNYC Radio
  • Marisa Kashino, Washingtonian
  • Charlotte Keith, Investigative Post
  • Michael LaForgia, Nathaniel Lash and Lisa Gartner, Tampa Bay Times
  • J. David McSwane and Andrew Chavez, Austin American-Statesman
  • Jonah Newman, The Chicago Reporter
  • Cezary Podkul and Marcelo Rochabrun, ProPublica
  • Brian Rosenthal, Houston Chronicle
  • Lindsey Smith, Michigan Radio
  • Halle Stockton and Alexandra Kanik, PublicSource
  • Perla Trevizo, Fernanda Echavarri and Mike Christy, Arizona Daily Star and Arizona Public Media
  • Alexandra Zayas and Kameel Stanley, Tampa Bay Times

 
More on finalists’ work »

About The Livingston Awards:

The Livingston Awards for Young Journalists are the most prestigious honor for professional journalists under the age of 35 and are the largest all-media, general reporting prizes in American journalism. Entries from print, broadcast and online journalism are judged against one another as technology blurs distinctions between branches of the traditional platforms. The $10,000 prizes, awarded annually for local, national and international reporting, are sponsored by the University of Michigan, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Indian Trail Charitable Foundation. The Livingston Awards are administered by Wallace House at the University of Michigan, home to the Knight-Wallace Fellowships for Journalists. Learn more at wallacehouse.umich.edu/Livingston-awards. 

 

About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation:

Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. The foundation believes that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged. For more information, visit knightfoundation.org.

Shoshana Walter and Ryan Gabrielson Discuss their Winning Investigative Series with David Greene

The Livingston Awards and University of Michigan hosted “Guards with Guns: Are America’s Security Guards a Safeguard or Hazard?” at the Newseum in Washington D.C. on January 12, 2016.

Moderated by David Greene, Livingston judge and host of “Morning Edition,” NPR, Livingston Award co-winners Shoshana Walter and Ryan Gabrielson discussed the findings of their Center for Investigative Reporting investigation on the haphazard system of lax laws and weak screening standards for armed security guards. Their series “Hired Guns,” won the 2015 Livingston Award for National Reporting.

Watch the discussion »

Gabrielson, Greene, Walter
David Greene of NPR, interviews Livingston winners Ryan Gabrielson (left) and Shoshana Walter (right).