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Barlett & Steele Awards

2023 Awards

The Gold winners of the 2023 Barlett and Steele Awards visited the Cronkite School at Arizona State University on November 1, 2023, to accept their award and have a conversation with students.

Jim Morris from Public Health Watch, Ava Kofman from ProPublica, and Marisa Gerber, Paige St. John, Ruben Vives, and Robert Lopez from the Los Angeles Times joined various classrooms to talk to future journalists about how they conducted their award-winning investigations. They also watched a taping of Cronkite News, a 30-min student-led news production, visited with the current Humphrey Fellows, and had lunch with Cronkite faculty. Watch the recap of the day below.

Gold Winners

Global/National Publications

2023
Gold
This three-part series exposed bribery and corruption in the cannabis industry in California and showed the state government’s negligence in clamping down on marijuana companies and individuals operating illegal cannabis farms. The report highlights how California’s Proposition 64, signed in 2016, was expected to address the illegal cannabis market and address numerous violence and environmental degradation. The investigation exposed human rights abuses of cannabis workers, who were mostly immigrants, and documented over a dozen deaths of cannabis growers and workers poisoned by carbon monoxide.

Regional/Local Publications

2023
Gold
Following a tip about exponentially rising case numbers of silicosis in Latino workers the journalists began their joint investigation. Silicosis is a deadly lung disease caused by inhalation of fine silica dust, but was virtually unknown for centuries – until the recent popularity of artificial stone countertops. The reporters discovered that demand for this popular new product, coupled with poor workplace protections for stone workers in the Los Angeles area, created a fatal trend.

Outstanding Young Journalist

2023
Gold
This investigation examines the harrowing reality of a for-profit hospice industry that preys on vulnerable individuals in order to make money. Kofman’s reporting found that an industry that began as a visionary notion to allow terminally ill patients to die with dignity in their own homes has since turned into a for-profit hustle plagued by exploitation.

2024 Awards

The Barlett and Steele Awards, named in honor of renowned investigative business journalists Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele, were expanded in 2022! The awards now have two categories: one for news organizations with a national or global audience and one for publications with a regional or local focus. Additionally, an award will be given to an Outstanding Young Journalist that will recognize the work of a journalist under 30 years of age who demonstrates outstanding ability in investigative business reporting.

Applications for 2024 will open June 1, 2024.

Global/National Publications

News organizations with a national or global audience and/or a newsroom with more than 100 editorial staff.

Gold – $3,000

Silver – $2,000

Bronze – $1,000

Regional/Local Publications

Organizations with a regional or local focus and/or a newsroom with 100 or fewer journalists.

Gold – $3,000

Silver – $2,000

Bronze – $1,000

Outstanding Young Journalist

A journalist under 30 years of age who demonstrates outstanding ability in investigative business reporting.

Gold – $3,000



Requirements for entry:

Entries will be accepted between June 1st, 2024 and July 31st, 2024 for articles originally published or broadcast between July 1st, 2023 and June 30th, 2024. Applications will be accepted only online and from editors or the contest coordinator designated by your news organization. Entries from freelance journalists are welcome but must be accompanied by a letter from an editor or director.

Each media outlet may submit no more than two entries per category (two for either the national or regional category and two for outstanding young journalist, for a total of four entries max per media outlet). 

There are no entry fees for the 2024 Barlett and Steele Awards.

Entries must include:

  • Either active links or PDFs of published work. Any links behind paywalls must include instructions on how they can be accessed by judges.
  • No more than three works of journalism (articles, videos, podcasts, etc.). Videos and podcasts should be no longer than 20 minutes each. All materials must be in English, or have an English-language translation. 
  • Nomination letter that addresses any obstacles encountered in reporting, any reforms or impact as a result of publication, and any corrections or challenges to accuracy. For the Young Journalist Award, the nomination should include relevant biographical details of the nominee.
  • Contact information for the editor or director submitting the entry.

Vetting

Entries for the Barlett & Steele Awards will undergo an initial vetting round by the faculty of Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, with a panel of distinguished financial journalists making the final decision for each award. Winners will be announced in October 2024 with an award ceremony to be held in early November in downtown Phoenix.

If you have any questions about the entry or award process please contact us.

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