Berkeley wins at IRE

From top left: Katey Rusch, Susie Neilson, Sukey Lewis, Professor Jennifer LaFleur, Casey Smith and Nina Sparling.

Two investigations that emerged from UC Berkeley Journalism’s Investigative Reporting Program and other groundbreaking stories by faculty and alums were honored in the 2024 Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) Awards, announced this week. The prestigious annual contest recognizes the most outstanding watchdog journalism of the year by print, broadcast and online media.

On the heels of other major wins, alums Katey Rusch (’20) and Casey Smith (’20) won the Print/Online – Division II for “Right to Remain Secret,” published in The San Francisco Chronicle. The winning two-part investigative series developed at UC Berkeley’s Investigative Reporting Program over five years unveiled how multiple police agencies in California used secretive legal settlements to mask the misconduct of officers. The series also won the Goldsmith Prize, George Polk Award for Justice Reporting and the Selden Ring Award for Investigative Reporting this year.

Judges’ comments: This was an exhaustive investigation of a secret system of negotiated “clean record agreements” that hide misconduct of police officers from future employers — and often allow the accused to collect questionable disability pensions. The reporters fought for three years to get the documents, making FOI requests to 501 agencies. In the end, they reviewed approximately 10,000 pages of court records and conducted more than 250 interviews with parties involved in the agreements, regulatory officials and subject matter experts.

Susie Neilson (’19) won for “Fast and Fatal,” a year-long investigation that found that high-speed police chases now claim nearly two lives a day across the country. Through meticulous research and data gathering, the reporters unveiled that police pursuits resulted in more than 3,300 deaths from 2017 through 2022, with a significant number of victims being bystanders or passengers —not the fleeing drivers. The story also ran in The San Francisco Chronicle.

Judges’ comments: This nationwide investigation analyzed fatal high-speed police chases that resulted in 3,000+ deaths and 52,000 injuries. Most casualties were pedestrians or passengers; only 15 deaths were officers. The newspaper also found that 660 deaths and incidents were not reported by the police agencies. Most fatal chases originated after low-level offenses. The report was comprehensive, well-presented and documented.

Chronicle photo illustration

Professor Jennifer LaFleur, who leads Berkeley Journalism’s data reporting, was part of the team that won the top award in the Audio-Large category for the acclaimed and award-winning investigation “40 Acres and a Lie” by Reveal, Center for Public Integrity, Mother Jones and PRX.

Judges’ comments: Great investigative work, heads above the rest. They managed to make something from the past relevant today. The database is amazing.

Sukey Lewis’ (’15) “On Our Watch: New Folsom” for KQED Public Radio won the Longform Journalism in Audio category. The podcast takes listeners inside California State Prison, Sacramento, known as New Folsom. The podcast tells the story of two correctional officers who work in an elite investigative unit and what happens when they report corruption and abuse by their fellow officers.

The podcast was scored and produced by alum Steven Rascón (’22) and the senior editor is Victoria Mauleón (’01). Kathleen Quinn (’24), Laura Fitzgerald (’24), Cayla Mihalovich (’24), Julietta Bisharyan (’23), William Jenkins (’23), Elizabeth Santos (’23), Armon Owlia (’23), and Junyao Yang (’23) provided research. April Dembosky (’08) was an editorial consultant. Assistant Dean Jeremy Sanchez Rue (‘07) contributed data analysis. Professor David Barstow, Chair of the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism, provided support and guidance.

Judges’ comments: …an extensive investigation that is a model for how fact-based, document-based, data-based, audio-based and human-centered investigative journalism should be executed and reported….This investigation is a textbook example of how to tirelessly pursue truth and accountability, and then how to provide the complicated details, the findings, and the human costs in intensely compelling and compassionate audio storytelling.

Nina Sparling (‘20) was a finalist in the Audio-Small category for “Renters at Risk” for The Public’s Radio.

Judges’ comments: ...a thorough and approachable investigation of Rhode Island’s spotty efforts to protect tenants from lead paint with patchwork enforcement. Her investigation makes a hefty topic digestible.

The awards will be presented at the 2025 IRE Conference in New Orleans on Saturday, June 21.