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Public Broadcasting Sweeps 2015 DuPont-Columbia Awards

It was announced today that reporting projects from NPR and other public broadcasting networks won six out of fourteen 2015 duPont-Columbia Awards, one of the most highly-regarded recognitions in journalism (think: "Pulitzer Prize of news").

The NPR News investigative series 'Guilty And Charged' and 'Planet Money Makes A T-Shirt', a multi-platform collaboration between Planet Money and the NPR Visuals team, each were honored. Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) also received a nod, while PBS and WGBH (a Boston-area PBS affiliate) together earned an impressive spread of three awards.

Guilty And Charged (NPR)

@NPRNews

'Guilty And Charged' offers startling evidence of a two-tiered justice system that more harshly punishes the poor with costs and fees.

A 700% increase in the number of domestic incarcerations over the past 40 years inspired NPR Investigations correspondent Joe Shapiro to find out how states could afford to keep up with costs. After a year of collecting data and compelling personal narratives, Shapiro uncovered the emergence of a justice system that bills defendants for a long list of government services that were once free, including some that are constitutionally required (such as a public defender). For defendants who cannot pay, the result is a circular path toward "justice" that more closely resembles a modern day debtor's prison.

Planet Money Makes A T-Shirt (NPR)

@NPRViz; @PlanetMoney

To explore and explain the economics behind a basic t-shirt, Planet Money and NPR Visuals designed and sold t-shirts, then invited the audience to follow an international reporting trip that traced how these shirts were made.

This accessible lesson on the workings of the global economy began with a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign, which sold t-shirts and used the proceeds to fund reports from Bangladesh, Columbia and other regular stops on a typical t-shirt's production journey. The team then translated this coverage into an interactive documentary, radio series and podcasts, using different media to tell different parts of the story: video, to give a face to low-wage earners and highlight impressive machinery; text and graphics, to simplify complicated economic concepts and data.

The 2015 duPont-Columbia Awards jury called the project a "tour de force".

Betrayed by Silence (Minnesota Public Radio)

@MPRNews

A year-long investigation led by Minnesota Public Radio reporter Madeleine Baran exposed ongoing efforts by the Archdiocese of St. Paul to cover-up child abuse by priests. It also led to a criminal investigation, resignations, firings and the public release of some abusers' names.

The United States of Secrets (WGBH, Boston 'Frontline')

@FrontlinePBS

This two-part series produced by WGBH, a PBS affiliate in Boston, traced the extreme measures taken by the federal government to spy on ordinary Americans – and to keep such wide-sweeping surveillance under-wraps.

Syria's Second Front (WGBH, Boston 'Frontline')

@FrontlinePBS

Based on Frontline correspondent Muhammad Ali's treacherous expedition into northern Syria at the height of the country's civil war, the film spotlights rebels, as they worked to unify against a now-infamous jihadist rebel group: ISIS.

The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross with Henry Louis Gates, Jr (PBS)

@PBS

This extensive six-part series looks at five centuries of American history from an African American perspective, offering an alternative way to consider the growth a country built upon "freedom".

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Cara Philbin