Awards & Conferences
- Awards & Conferences
- Worth Bingham Prize for Investigative Journalism
- Taylor Family Award for Fairness in Journalism
- Joe Alex Morris Jr. Lecture
- J. Anthony Lukas Prize Project
- I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence
- The Christopher J. Georges Conference on College Journalism
- Louis M. Lyons Award for Conscience and Integrity in Journalism
Worth Bingham Prize for Investigative Journalism
2023 Winner
“Alone and Exploited,” by New York Times reporter Hannah Dreier is winner of the 2023 Worth Bingham Prize for Investigative Journalism. Dreier’s hard-hitting investigation exposed the staggering scope of America’s hidden migrant child workforce and examined the policy failures and willful disregard by government administrators and corporations alike that allowed children to work in dangerous, sometimes life-threatening conditions in violation of child labor laws.
Dreier found migrant children, many who had entered the country as unaccompanied minors, working in all 50 states, often making household products for companies including Fruit of the Loom, Ford, General Mills, J. Crew, and Ben & Jerry’s. They held jobs in factories, on construction sites and in slaughterhouses, sometimes working overnight shifts to earn money to send to their families back home and often while trying to go to school. The reporting swiftly led to important government and corporate reforms.
The Bingham Prize at 50
For more than five decades, the Worth Bingham Prize for Investigative Journalism has honored some of the best investigative reporting in the United States. Winning entries have uncovered abuse, neglect, corruption and malfeasance of all types at the local, state and national level. Many of the reports have led to important policy and legislative changes that have corrected wrongdoing. In a number of instances, reporters have given voice to the voiceless and in doing so, have helped protect some of society’s most vulnerable citizens. The 50th anniversary of the prize was celebrated in 2017.
Trustees of the Worth Bingham Prize Fund
Executive Committee
Joan Bingham, chair
Clara Bingham, secretary
Eric Wentworth, treasurer
Elizabeth Chilton
John Wagley
Trustees
Molly Bingham
Jackie Blumenthal
David Burnham
Robert Garrett
Gardiner Harris
John Harwood
Brooks Jackson
Jon Meacham
Charles Peters
Walter Pincus
Past members
Barry Bingham, Jr.
Robert Worth Bingham
Gordon Davidson
Clayton Fritchey
K. Dun Gifford
Richard Harwood
Ward S. Just
Jane Mayer
Alan C. McConagha
Charles Peters
Chalmers Roberts
Thomas B. Ross
Paul R. Thatcher
About the Award
The $20,000 Worth Bingham Prize honors investigative reporting of stories of national significance where the public interest is being ill-served.
These stories may involve state, local or national government, lobbyists or the press itself, wherever an “atmosphere of easy tolerance” exists, as journalist Worth Bingham himself once described public misconduct in his reporting on the nation’s capital.
The investigative reporting may cover actual violations of the law, rule or code; lax or ineffective administration or enforcement; or activities that create conflicts of interest, entail excessive secrecy or otherwise raise questions of propriety.
Judges for the annual prize are guided by such factors as obstacles overcome in obtaining information, accuracy, clarity of analysis and writing style, magnitude of the situation, and impact on the public, including any reforms that may have resulted.
How to Apply
Entry Guidelines
- All Bingham Prize entries must be submitted using our online application form.
- The Bingham Prize was established in 1967 to honor exemplary investigative reporting published in print. Today, entries published in a U.S. newspaper or magazine or on the publication’s website during the previous calendar year are eligible. Web-based U.S. news organizations may also submit entries, but no broadcast-only entries are allowed. While we accept multimedia submissions, the principal audience for that work should be readers rather than listeners or viewers.
- Entries may include a single story, a related series of stories, or up to three unrelated stories. Columns and editorials are eligible. Individuals are encouraged to submit their own entries.
- In case of a series, at least half the individual stories must have been published during the contest year.
- A short summary of the article/series submitted as well as a description of the reporting effort involved is required. Please include any special obstacles overcome in obtaining information as well as the impact of the articles on the public interest (such as official investigations and reforms).
- All entries must be accompanied by a $50 entry fee, payable online.
- The date appearing on the newspaper or magazine will determine the entry’s eligibility in the contest year.
The judges’ selection of the winner will be final and not subject to review by the Board of Trustees of the Fund.
Winners in any one year will be eligible for future awards without restriction.
Applications for the 2024 Bingham Prize are now being accepted. The deadline for submissions is January 22, 2025.
For more information, please email the award coordinator Christine Kaye at christine_kaye@harvard.edu.
About Worth Bingham
Journalist Worth Bingham, a 1954 graduate of Harvard College, served three years as a Navy Officer before working as a reporter, first in Minneapolis and then in San Francisco.
He joined the Washington bureau of the Louisville Courier Journal and Times in 1961, where his reporting included, among other things, a series on “Our Costly Congress,” which was widely reprinted and earned him a Headliner Award from the National Headliner Club.
After two years in the paper’s Washington bureau, he returned to Louisville to join the executive staff, and became assistant to the publisher. Married, with two children, he was also active in numerous civic endeavors at the time of his death in 1966.
The Worth Bingham Prize was established in 1967 to commemorate Bingham’s work. The Nieman Foundation took over the administration of the award in 2008. The annual budget is covered by funds donated to Harvard that include past donations from family friends, classmates, fellow journalists and foundations.
Winners
2023
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Hannah Dreier The New York Times “Alone and Exploited” |
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2022
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Jodi S. Cohen and Jennifer Smith Richards ProPublica and Chicago Tribune “The Price Kids Pay” |
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2021
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Corey G. Johnson, Rebecca Woolington and Eli Murray Tampa Bay Times “Poisoned” |
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2020
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2019
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Christopher Weaver, Dan Frosch, Anna Wilde Mathews, Frank Koughan and colleagues
The Wall Street Journal and PBS’s “Frontline” “Forsaken by the Indian Health Service” |
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2018
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2017
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2016
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2015
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Cara Fitzpatrick, Lisa Gartner, Michael LaForgia, Nathaniel Lash, Dirk Shadd, Chris Davis and colleagues
Tampa Bay Times “Failure Factories” |
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2014
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2013
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2012
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2011
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2010
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Michael J. Berens
The Seattle Times “Seniors for Sale: Exploiting the aged and frail in Washington’s adult family homes” |
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2009
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2008 | ||
Honorable mention:
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2007
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2006
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2005 |
Susan Schmidt, James V. Grimaldi, R. Jeffrey Smith
The Washington Post Lobbying practices and influence of Jack Abramoff |
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Honorable mention:
Marcus Stern, Jerry Kammer
San Diego Union Tribune The fall of Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham and congressional corruption |
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2004
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Diana Henriques
The New York Times “Captive Clientele” – How insurance companies, investment firms and lenders have fleeced thousands of soldiers fighting for their country |
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2003 | ||
Honorable mention:
Gannett New Jersey Staff
“Profiting from Public Service: How New Jersey Legislators Exploit the System” (series) |
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2002
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2001 |
Ken Armstrong, Steve Mills, Maurice Possley
Chicago Tribune “Cops and Confessions” |
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Honorable mention:
Ben Raines
Mobile Register “Mercury taints seafood” |
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2000
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1999
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Sang-hun Choe, Charles J. Hanley, Martha Mendoza, Randy Herschaft
The Associated Press Series on No Gun Ri project |
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1998
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R. G. Dunlop, Gardiner Harris
The Courier-Journal “Dust, Deception and Death” (series) |
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1997 |
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Honorable mention:
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1996
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1995
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Two winners:
Jenni Bergal, Fred Schulte
Sun-Sentinel “The Medicaid HMO Game: Poor Care, Big Profits” (and other related articles)” Chris Adams
The Times-Picayune Profiteering of Louisiana Medicaid program (continued coverage) |
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1994 |
Two winners:
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Honorable mention:
Tim Heider, Joel Rutchick
Plain Dealer SAFE Fund Investments |
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1993
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Craig Flournoy, Randy Lee Loftis
The Dallas Morning News “Race and Risk” (government plans to force thousands of poor black residents to live in a Superfund toxic site) |
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1992
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David Boardman, Susan Gilmore, Eric Nalder, Eric Pryne
The Seattle Times Sexual harassment investigation of U.S. Senator Brock Adams |
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1991
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Richard Behar
TIME Magazine “Scientology: The Cult of Greed” |
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1990 |
Keith McKnight, Bob Paynter, Andrew Zajac
Akron Beacon Journal Secret campaign contributions in Ohio politics |
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Honorary mention:
Tom Knudson
Sacramento Bee “Golden Land/Shattered Earth” (reform of 1872 mining law) |
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1989
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Jenni Bergal, Fred Schulte
Ft. Lauderdale News and Sun-Sentinel “Crisis in Care: How HRS Fails Florida” |
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1988
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Bill Dedman
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution “The Color of Money: lending practices discriminate against blacks” |
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1987
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Staff and editors
Newsday “The Rush to Burn: America’s Garbage Gamble” |
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1986
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Robert Woodward
The Washington Post Secrecy in Government (Reagan administration) |
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1985
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David Ashenfelter, Laura Berman, Tom Hundley, Larry Kostecke, Michael Wagner
Detroit Free Press Six-part series questioning Michigan Corrections Department’s practices on prisoner release |
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1984
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Two winners:
Brooks Jackson, David Rogers
The Wall Street Journal “Money and Politics” Chris Collins, John Hanchette
Gannett News Service “The Vaccine Machine” |
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1983
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Dennis Camire, Mark Rohner, Sharon Johnson
Gannett News Service Series investigating fraud and mismanagement in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farmers Home Administration (FmHA) |
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1982
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Alan Green, Bill Hogan, Diane Kiesel
The New Republic “The New Slush Fund Scandal: How congressmen live high on campaign money” |
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1981
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Patrick Oster, Bruce Ingersoll
Chicago Sun-Times “Defense Dilemmas” |
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1980
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Two winners:
Ralph Soda
Gannett Papers Series on an attempt by two brothers to corner the world’s silver market Ted Gup, Jonathan Neumann
The Washington Post Five-part series exposing how companies bribed federal government officials for lucrative government consulting contracts |
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1979
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John Fialka
Washington Star “Nifty Nugget”: Three-part series on U.S. military shortcomings as revealed by a secret military exercise in Europe |
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1978
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David Hess
Akron Beacon Journal A body of work on problems with Firestone’s steel-belted radial tires |
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1977
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Michael J. Sniffen, Richard E. Meyer
The Associated Press Bert Lance used the same stock as collateral for two different loans |
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1976
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Morton Mintz
The Washington Post “The Medicine Business” (series): Why pharmaceutical disasters continue to occur |
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1975
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James Risser
The Des Moines Register Corruption in the grain-exporting business |
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1974
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Maxine Cheshire
The Washington Post Four-part series on whereabouts of state gifts to U.S. officials and their families from foreign leaders and dignitaries |
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1973
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Jerry Landauer
The Wall Street Journal Spiro Agnew series |
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1972
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Carl Bernstein, Robert Woodward
The Washington Post Bugging of Democratic National Headquarters at the Watergate |
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1971
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Frank Wright
Minneapolis Tribune How dairy lobby applied financial weight to secure a favorable decision on price supports; implications in political process |
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1970
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James Clayton
The Washington Post Series of editorials criticizing President Nixon’s nominee to the Supreme Court, G. Harrold Carswell |
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1969
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Seymour Hersh
Dispatch News Service My Lai 4 incident (series of four articles) |
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1968
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Special Assignment Team
The Associated Press Collection of reports on various ways the federal government wasted taxpayers’ money |
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1967
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William Lambert
LIFE Senator Edward Long’s Help-Hoffa campaign |