Phil Ammann
A Miami Herald investigation of Florida child deaths is among the finalists for the 2015 Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting from Harvard University.
Announcement of six contenders came today from the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
“Innocence Lost” was the March 2014 series recounting more than 500 children who died of abuse or neglect over a seven-year period while in Florida’s Department of Children and Families safety net, a result of slashed budgets and pressure to reduce services.
The series led the Florida Legislature to pass a number of DCF reforms, one of the largest overhauls of child welfare laws the state’s history.
Herald reporters who were named for their work on “Innocence Lost” are Carol Marbin Miller, Audra Burch, Mary Ellen Klas, Emily Michot, Kara Dapena, and Lazaro Gamio.
Other finalists include The Boston Globe, ProPublica and NPR, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal, and the Post and Courier out of South Carolina.
“This group of Goldsmith Prize Finalists includes newspapers of different sizes, new media, radio, and a news service – which indicates that high quality work is being done on every platform,” said Shorenstein Center Director Alex S. Jones.
The Investigative Reporting Prize recognizes journalism that promotes efficient and ethical conduct of government and public policy creation, as well as disclosing secrecy, impropriety, and mismanagement. Awards are underwritten by an annual gift from the Goldsmith Fund of the Greenfield Foundation, with $10,000 for finalists and $25,000 for the winner.
Goldsmith Prize winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on March 3 at the Kennedy School in Cambridge, MA.
