MADISON – “Perversion of Justice,” a three-part series by Miami Herald reporters Julie K. Brown and Emily Michot, won the 2019 Anthony Shadid Award for Journalism Ethics, the University of Wisconsin’s Center for Journalism Ethics announced Thursday.
The series investigated how Jeffrey Epstein, a wealthy hedge fund manager, struck a secret deal with U.S. prosecutor Andrew Acosta — now the Secretary of Labor — to cover up his crimes of molesting and sexually assaulting scores of underage girls.
Brown and Michot will receive their award May 14 in a ceremony at the University Club in New York City.
The other four finalists were:
- Garance Burke and Martha Mendoza, Associated Press, for “The Innocents: How U.S. immigration policy punishes migrant children” – a year-long investigation into the Trump administration’s family separation policy.
- Hannah Dreier, ProPublica, for “A Betrayal” – the story of a teenager and MS-13 gang member who became a government informant, only to face death threats and deportation after federal agents reneged on a promise to protect him.
- David Jackson, Jennifer Smith Richards, Gary Marx, Juan Perez, Jr., Chicago Tribune, for “Betrayed” – an investigative series that exposed Chicago schools’ failure to protect students from sexual abuse and assault.
- Maggie Michael, Nariman El-Mofty, Maad al-Zikry, Associated Press, for reporting throughout 2018 that investigated atrocities occurring during Yemen’s war.
