The Reuters investigative series, ‘Ambushed at Home’ has been named the winner of the prestigious Edgar A. Poe Award. Presented by the White House Correspondents’ Association, the award honors excellence in news coverage of subjects of significant importance to the American people. This is Reuters second consecutive win.
‘Ambushed at Home,’ by Joshua Schneyer, M.B. Pell, Andrea Januta and Deborah Nelson, took readers inside restricted-access U.S. military bases to reveal the untold story of how many armed-services families live in slum-like squalor, battling toxic lead, rampant mold, leaking ceilings and rodent infestations. The first-of-its-kind investigation unmasked a housing privatization program that saddles military families with few rights, sickens their children and leaves soldiers penniless and powerless as landlords earn billions in 50-year contracts with iron-clad guarantees of profit.
The reports prompted dramatic government action to safeguard 700,000 military personnel and family members living on American bases – three federal investigations, new legislation, widespread repairs and a $386 million emergency program to inspect housing for the hazards that were exposed.
The win adds to a growing list of journalism awards that Reuters has won so far in 2019. These include the George Polk Award win in the Foreign reporting category, which was awarded to imprisoned Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo for their investigation of a massacre of ten Rohingya men and boys in a village in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state; three Overseas Press Club Award honors, three SABEW ‘Best in Business’ Awards; 11 Pictures of the Year International honors; a Scripps Howard Award; and eight Webby Award recognitions.
[Reuters Press Blog]
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