GEORGE POLK AWARDS PRESENTED TO DISTINGUISHED JOURNALISTS

COVERAGE OF THE WAR IN UKRAINE, CORPORATE SUBTERFUGE, VICTIMIZED CHILDREN AND EXPLOITED MIGRANTS AMONG SUBJECTS OF 15 WINNERS

ong Island University recognized the winners of the George Polk Awards in 15 categories for reporting in 2022, citing three recipients for coverage of the war in Ukraine.

George Polk Award winners also unmasked the false underpinnings of a crypto currency empire; disrupted a private equity giant’s plan to glean huge profits from homes for disabled patients; examined lethal plundering of the Amazon rainforest; detailed the use of hapless migrants to help a governor score political points; revealed allegations of irregularities in a prominent university president’s scientific research; highlighted a growing prosecutorial tool that lacked scientific basis, and published the leak of a controversial U.S. Supreme Court ruling on abortion.

Two winners were honored for revelations that put an end to abuses in Alabama: a local police force’s scheme to enrich its coffers by bombarding drivers with phony traffic violations and nationally known companies employing migrant children as young as 12 in their factories. Others demonstrated that religious schools in New York were depriving thousands of students of a basic education, established that an inexplicable delay in police intervention contributed to the deaths in a Texas school shooting, and attributed the fatal shooting of a revered Palestinian-American reporter in the West Bank to unprovoked fire from an Israeli sniper.

The George Polk Awards committee has also awarded the second Sydney Schanberg Prize to an American-born British war correspondent who examined a deadly terrorist attack in northern Mozambique from multiple points of view.

“We were deluged with so many worthwhile entries it was difficult to choose among them,” said John Darnton, curator of the awards. “Interestingly, a lot of reporters went after large, thematic stories, like the role of private equity companies in buying up hospitals, private homes and apartment complexes. And the war in Ukraine produced superb war reporting, done at great peril.”

Long Island University Board of Trustees Chair Eric Krasnoff stated, “The 2023 George Polk Awards continues a rich tradition at LIU of honoring the journalistic excellence that continues to support equity and truth as pillars of a democratic society. LIU is humbled to help curate these awards that celebrate achievements built on a firm foundation of integrity and bravery.”

“The fearless work of these distinguished journalists proves that diligent reporting will always have the power to effect positive change throughout the world,” said Long Island University

RECIPIENTS OF THE GEORGE POLK AWARDS FOR 2022 REPORTING:

• Foreign Reporting: Staff for The New York Times The War in Ukraine

• War Reporting: Mstyslav Chernov, Lori Hinnant, Vasilisa Stepanenko and Evgeniy Maloletka, Associated Press Siege of Mariupol

• National Reporting: Peter Canellos, Josh Gerstein and Alex Ward, Politico Revelation of the Supreme Court’s Vote to Overturn Roe v. Wade

• Local Reporting: John Archibald, Ramsey Archibald and Ashley Remkus, AL.com Predatory Policing in an Alabama Town

• State Reporting: Kristina Cooke, Mica Rosenberg and Joshua Schneyer, Reuters “Undocumented and Underage”

• Health Reporting: Anthony Cormier, Jason Leopold, Kendall Taggart and John Templon, BuzzFeed News “Profit, Pain and Private Equity”

• Financial Reporting: Ian Allison and Tracy Wang, CoinDesk Exposure of Sam Bankman-Fried & His Cryptocurrency Empire

• Environmental Reporting: Terrence McCoy, The Washington Post “The Amazon Undone”

President Kimberly R. Cline. “Long Island University is pleased to recognize this year’s George Polk Award winners for exceptional work that will be remembered over the course of history.”

The 2022 George Polk Award winners were honored this spring at a luncheon ceremony at the New York Athletic Club, following an evening seminar on LIU’s Brooklyn campus, “When Covering War Gets Personal,” allowing several winners to delve more deeply into their stories.

Learn more at: liu.edu/polk

1: The award for Foreign Reporting went to the staff of The New York Times for coverage of the war in Ukraine. 2: Brian M. Rosenthal and Eliza Shapiro of The New York Times were honored with the Education Reporting Award detailing the failure of New York’s Hasidic yeshivas to provide 50,000 boys with a basic education despite receiving more than a quarter of a billion dollars in public funds annually. 3: Staff from the Associated Press won the award for War Reporting for sharing horrific narratives and images during the siege of Mariupol. 4: Staff from the Miami Herald won the award for Political Reporting for covering the transport of South American refugees to Martha's Vineyard.

• Education Reporting: Brian M. Rosenthal and Eliza Shapiro, The New York Times Exposed Education System of New York’s Hasidic Yeshivas

• Justice Reporting: Brett Murphy, ProPublica “Words of Conviction”

• Political Reporting: Sarah Blaskey, Ana Ceballos, Mary Ellen Klas, Nicholas Nehamas and staff, Miami Herald Transport of South American Refugees to Martha’s Vineyard

• Foreign Television Reporting: Kavitha Chekuru, Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Laila Al-Arian, Al Jazeera English The Killing of Shireen Abu Akleh

• National Television Reporting: Shimon Prokupecz and staff, CNN Delayed Law Enforcement Response at Uvalde, Texas School Shooting

• Photojournalism: Lynsey Addario, The New York Times Death of a Family in Ukraine

• Special Award: Theo Baker, The Stanford Daily Raising Questions About a University President’s Research

• Sydney H. Schanberg Prize: Alex Perry, Outside Magazine ISIS Attack in Palma, Mozambique