Investigations by 12 alums including a groundbreaking public records project at UC Berkeley Journalism’s Investigative Reporting Program have been named finalists in the Online News Association’s 2026 Online Journalism Awards — awards that have honored excellence and innovation in digital journalism for more than 25 years.
The school’s Investigative Reporting Program is a finalist in the Excellence in AI Innovation/Large Newsroom category for the Police Records Access Project. Berkeley Journalism alums Lisa Pickoff-White (’09) and Katey Rusch (’20), Record Requests Manager and data journalist, have spent years leading the project.
The Police Records Access Project was also recently honored by the Society of Professional Journalists with the 2026 Sunshine Award for advancing open government.
“With David Barstow’s leadership, the Police Records Access Project has brought journalists and data scientists together, from UC Berkeley to Stanford, to do exactly what journalism must do: provide facts to hold power to account,” Michael D. Bolden, dean of UC Berkeley Journalism said. “This work has already enabled important journalism on police accountability, and it’s an honor to see the project recognized by ONA. I am equally excited to see so many alumni named as finalists.”
From top left: Katey Rusch (’20), Andy Mannix (’15), Robert Lewis (’08), Erin Stone (’19), Brett Murphy (’16), Lauren Hepler (’18), Susie Neilson (’19) and Lisa Pickoff-White (’09).
The staff of the Minnesota Star Tribune, led by alum Kathleen Hennessey (’04), editor and senior vice president, is a finalist for the Knight Award for Public Service for “Operation Metro Surge.” In its award entry, the Tribune describes how it recognized that this “rapidly unfolding story demanded sustained, aggressive and rigorous reporting – and multi-media storytelling. Federal agencies often withheld basic facts, declined interviews and limited public access.” Official information was sometimes unverifiable, even as “protests and increasingly charged confrontations with agents flooded social media feeds.”
A federal agent sprays a chemical agent directly into the fact of a protestor after federal agents arrested a suspect near 28th and Blaisedell Avenue South in Minneapolis on Jan. 21. (Richard Tsong-Taatarii/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
People watch as federal agents and St. Paul police officers converge at the scene of a crash involving an apparent pursuit by federal officers near the corner of Selby and Western in St. Paul on Feb. 11. (Leila Navidi/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
CalMatters investigative reporters Robert Lewis (’08) and Lauren Hepler (’18) are finalists in the Explanatory Reporting, Medium Newsroom category for “License to Kill” documenting how California allows deadly drivers to stay on the road, despite long and horrific driving histories.
Jerrod Tejeda holds a framed photo of his daughter Cassi Tejeda, at his home in Visalia on March 6, 2025. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local
Their reporting has led to an astonishing 16 bills being introduced in the state legislature, license suspensions or revocations for nearly 200 drivers who killed someone, and new DMV reporting requirements for vehicular manslaughter in more than 30 counties. Read the judges’ comments, including their praise for their “dogged accountability reporting” and “ability to reveal systemic failures through deeply human stories,” here.
Alum Cayla Mihalovich (’24), a California Local News Fellow and justice reporter for CalMatters conducted court reporting for “License to Kill” by Robert Lewis (’08) and Lauren Hepler (’18).
Susie Neilson (’19) and reporters Megan Fan Munce and Sara DiNatale are finalists in the Explanatory Reporting, Medium Newsroom category for “Burned: A San Francisco Chronicle investigation of the insurance crisis now devastating wildfire survivors.” The series also won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting.
Andy Mannix (’15) and the Minnesota Star Tribune are finalists in the Breaking News, Large Newsroom for “A Fatal Encounter.” In its award entry, the Tribune describes how reporter Mannix received a tip indicating someone had been shot by ICE and how he and reporter Liz Sawyer became the first to identify ICE agent who killed Renee Good.
Erin Stone (’19) reporting in the early hours of the fire.
The entry lays out how the reporters, along with a federal courts reporter, determined that there was a federal charge related to a previous dragging incident that the Department of Homeland Security had revealed and confirmed his identity through court documents and sources.
Climate and environment reporter Erin Stone (’19) is a finalist in the Excellence in Audio Digital Storytelling for “Imperfect Paradise” for LAist. In its award entry, LAist describes how Stone spent months fighting for access to 911 calls from the night of the Eaton Fire, including the final calls of Anthony Mitchell Sr. and his disabled adult son Justin, who died waiting for a rescue that never came. “Imperfect Paradise” built an episode around those haunting recordings, examining a failure that went beyond one family.
From left: Cynthia Dizikes (’08), Kathleen Hennessey (’04) and Joaquin Palomino (’15).
Cynthia Dizikes (’08) and Joaquin Palomino (’15) are finalists in the Al Neuharth Innovation in Investigative Journalism Award, Medium Newsroom category for “Failed to Death,” a four-part investigation in the San Francisco Chronicle that exposed how for-profit psychiatric hospitals rapidly expanded across California and reaped millions in profit by stripping their workforces bare and subjecting patients to woeful care, violence and deadly neglect.
The series was also a 2026 Pulitzer Prize finalist in the Investigative Reporting category.
Brett Murphy (’16) is a finalist in the Digital Video Storytelling, Short Form category for “What Really Happened When USAID Was Cut” for ProPublica. In its award entry, ProPublica describes how Murphy and Anna Barry-Jester broke the story of the contradictory statements by the Secretary of State claiming that lifesaving and food operations would remain active, following an executive order that froze all U.S. foreign aid pending a review of whether programs aligned with the administration’s stated values.
“This seven-minute video explainer is their account of how the U.S. Agency for International Development, a 60-year-old, congressionally created federal agency, was dismantled almost overnight,” the entry outlined. “And they connect the resulting harm, including deaths of people who depended on the aid, to the U.S. policymakers and political appointees responsible for the cuts.”
Ruxandra Guidi (‘02)
Ruxandra Guidi (‘02) is a finalist in the Excellence in Audio Digital Storytelling category for “Shipwreck: How a Captain, Company, and Culture Sank the SS El Faro” for Sugar23 and Audible. The ten-part series tells the story of a catastrophic decision by an American captain to sail into a hurricane and the crew members’ heroic but doomed efforts to save their ship. The series combines original reporting and interviews with re-creations of conversations on the El Faro’s bridge, captured by the ship’s black box in the hours before it sank. She shares the honor with colleagues Maeve McGoran, Caitlin Pierce, Mike Mayer, Anna Stitt, Martha Little, Liam Billingham, Joshua Lash, Mischa Stanton and Gary Gunn.
The winners will be celebrated on Thursday, October 1 at City Winery in New York City.
