Investigations that uncovered corporate misconduct, government lapses and systemic failures took home the prizes Nov. 5 at the 19th annual Barlett & Steele Awards.
The ceremony was held at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, inside the First Amendment Forum – a public venue surrounded by classrooms and constant student activity.
From a stage with four chairs, the journalists behind the award-winning entries shared stories that extended far beyond the room, revealing abuses that affected communities and sparked reform. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist James B. Steele, half of the investigative duo for whom the awards are named, commended the honorees for their dedication to accountability and the public interest.
Established in 2007, the Barlett & Steele Awards are administered by the Reynolds Center for Business Journalism to recognize excellence in investigative business reporting.
Stories that start with questions
If there was a theme to the night, it was curiosity. Every story honored began with a question. For Alexa York of The Blade, it started with a simple observation: Why was the military, not the Environmental Protection Agency, cleaning up a Cold War-era nuclear site near her hometown of Luckey, Ohio? That question led her through declassified government records, dusty CDs in a local library, guided by a mentorship with veteran journalist Sam Roe. Her investigation uncovered contaminated groundwater near the weapons site, contradicting federal assurances and prompting action at multiple levels of government. York received the Outstanding Young Journalist award for the story.
For Megan Fan Munce of the San Francisco Chronicle, the question came from a colleague: Could the same insurance underestimations seen after hurricanes on the East Coast be happening in wildfire-ravaged California? That inquiry led Munce and reporter Susie Neilson into thousands of pages of regulatory documents and a little-known algorithm called 360Value. Their reporting revealed that major insurers had knowingly used flawed data to underinsure homes, leaving thousands of Californians without enough coverage to rebuild after devastating fires. The Chronicle’s investigation earned the Gold Award in the regional/local category.
For David Armstrong of ProPublica, the question was personal: Why was his cancer medication, developed with public funding, being sold for $1,000 a pill when it cost just 25 cents to make? Working alongside colleague Robin Fields, Armstrong exposed the pharmaceutical industry’s exploitative pricing tactics and the systemic greed driving up costs for life-saving drugs. Their reporting, which highlighted how public investment often leads to private profit, won the Gold Award in the global/national category.
The power of the personal
Armstrong’s story, in particular, represented a powerful shift in investigative journalism: the embrace of the personal narrative. Urged by his editors to write in the first person, a format he initially resisted, he found that his own experience as a patient gave the story a resonance that pure data never could.
“I was uncomfortable with it,” he said. “But in the end, it made the story more powerful.”
That vulnerability – of a journalist stepping into the story not as a detached observer but as a participant – was echoed in Alexa’s journey. She wasn’t a reporter when she began. She was a concerned citizen, an unemployed twenty-something with a Google Drive full of documents and a growing sense that something was wrong. Her courage to keep digging, to ask for help, and to trust the process, became a story in itself.
One of the most notable aspects of this year’s awards was the strong showing from regional and local newsrooms – including the San Francisco Chronicle, The Toledo Blade and Public Health Watch. “These organizations might lack the resources of national outlets,” said Dr. Jeffrey Timmermans, director of the Reynolds Center, “But they are producing outstanding and impactful journalism.”
York’s investigation prompted inquiries by federal, state and local agencies. The San Francisco Chronicle’s coverage revealed widespread flaws in insurance estimates that left thousands of Californians underinsured. ProPublica’s reporting renewed scrutiny of pharmaceutical pricing and the role of public funding in drug development.
Other honorees included Public Health Watch, which received the Bronze Award in the regional/local category for its podcast series “Fumed.” The series followed two residents of a Texas Gulf Coast community as they became environmental activists, challenging petrochemical industry practices and a lack of federal oversight.
KARE 11 earned the Silver Award in the same category for “Recovery, Inc.,” an investigation into addiction treatment centers in Minnesota. The reporting uncovered falsified treatment records and fraudulent billing practices that left vulnerable patients without adequate care.
In the global/national category, Reuters received the Bronze Award for “Fentanyl Express,” a multi-part series tracing the international supply chain of the deadly drug. The Silver Award went to STAT for “Healthcare’s Colossus,” which examined how UnitedHealth Group boosted profits through Medicare Advantage and aggressive diagnostic coding.
Throughout the evening, Steele highlighted the discipline and determination behind each piece of reporting. He closed with a reminder of journalism’s essential role.
“Our job is to really push back on the powerful who are trying to take advantage of other people or ignoring their responsibilities in this world,” he said. “And that’s what you see in all of these stories.”
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Watch the full conversation here.
