MADISON – Associated Press investigative reporters Margie Mason and Robin McDowell are the winners of the 2021 Anthony Shadid Award for Journalism Ethics, the Center for Journalism Ethics at UW-Madison announced Tuesday.
Mason and McDowell earned the award for their investigative series on palm oil labor abuses. They interviewed more than 130 current and former palm oil workers in Indonesia and Malaysia, chronicling instances of abuse such as rape, trafficking, slavery and child labor. Through their supply chain tracking efforts, Mason and McDowell also traced these abuses back to some of the biggest names in food and cosmetics, as well as to banks funding the industry.
The reporters will be presented with the award during an online ceremony in May.
The other 2021 finalists were:
- Agnes Chang, Adriana Gallardo, Loren Holmes, Kyle Hopkins, Marc Lester, Anne Raup, Nadia Sussman and Michelle Theriault Boots, Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica. In their series, “Unheard,” this team of journalists and photographers gathered the stories and created portraits of people affected by sexual assault in Alaska.
- Amy Silverman, Beena Raghavendran, Maya Miller, Shoshana Gordon, Alex Devoid, Mamta Popat, Rebecca Monteleone (University of Toledo), Arizona Daily Star and ProPublica. “State of Denial: Inside Arizona’s Division of Developmental Disabilities” investigated the failings of the State of Arizona’s services for residents with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
- Mara Rose Williams, Eric Adler, Mike Hendricks, Cortlynn Stark and Shelly Yang, Kansas City Star. In “The Truth in Black and White: An Apology from the Kansas City Star,” Star reporters did a deep dive into the 140-year history of the paper, unveiling a legacy of disrespecting, disregarding and disenfranchising the city’s Black citizens.
- Amy Brittain, Reena Flores and Bishop Sand, Washington Post. In the seven-part podcast “Canary: The Washington Post Investigates,” reporters explore the decisions of two women to share their accounts of sexual assault and the consequences of those choices.
The Shadid Award is named for UW-Madison journalism alumnus Anthony Shadid, who died in February 2012 while reporting in Syria. The award honors journalists who exhibit a strong commitment to ethical journalism by acting with integrity, honoring ethical principles in their reporting or resisting pressure to compromise ethical principles. It is unique in recognizing the ethical challenges journalists face in balancing the interests of sources, subjects and the public.
