MILWAUKEE – Sam Roe, a Pulitzer Prize winner for investigative journalism and four-time finalist, has been chosen to lead the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel‘s investigative team, the newspaper announced Thursday.
After nearly two decades at the Chicago Tribune, Roe will serve as investigative editor for the Journal Sentinel and USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin. He takes over for Greg Borowski, who now oversees the local and business news operations at the Journal Sentinel.
Roe is a strong believer in public service journalism and said he believes it is the most important job of any investigative team. His work at the Tribune includes the 2016 investigation “Dangerous Doses,” which revealed pharmacies were dispensing potentially dangerous drug combinations to patients without raising red flags with them or the doctors that prescribed the drugs. Earlier this week, one of Roe’s last projects for the Tribune found that some popular smartphones emit troubling amounts of radiation.
Working alongside Roe as deputy investigations editor will be longtime investigative reporter Raquel Rutledge. In her new role, Rutledge will continue to report in addition to her duties as editor.
During her 14 years with the Journal Sentinel, Rutledge has taken the lead on numerous investigations, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Cashing in on Kids” series in 2010, which uncovered massive fraud in Wisconsin’s subsidized child care program. She also led the Journal Sentinel and USA TODAY coverage of tainted alcohol, blackouts, sexual assaults and drownings at all-inclusive resorts in Mexico.
The Journal Sentinel also announced the addition of Mary Spicuzza to its investigations team.
Spicuzza has covered local and state government since joining the newspaper in 2015. Previously, she worked for the Wisconsin State Journal, where she was part of the team that was named a 2012 Pulitzer Prize finalist for coverage of around-the-clock protests at the State Capitol over collective bargaining rights.
