"The Worth Bingham Prize honors newspaper or magazine investigative reporting of stories of national significance where the public interest is being ill-served."[2]
The Worth Bingham Prize, also referred to as the Worth Bingham Prize for Investigative Reporting, is an annual journalism award which honors: "newspaper or magazine investigative reporting of stories of national significance where the public interest is being ill-served."[2][3]
About the prize
The prize is named for Robert W. "Worth" Bingham, a newspaper heir and reporter who died at the age of thirty-four.[4][5] Bingham graduated from Harvard College in 1954[6] and served as an officer in the United States Navy. He joined the staff of the Louisville Courier-Journal and Times in 1961, where he received a National Headliner Award for his series on "Our Costly Congress." Before he died in 1966 in an accident on Nantucket Island, he was assistant to the publisher.[5]
The prize is seen as a recognition of the best investigative reporting in Americannewspapers and newsmagazines.[7][8] The investigative reporting recognized tends to involve violations of the law, inefficiencies in government; or conflicts of interest and questions of impropriety. The three-judge panel of the Worth Bingham Prize considers the impediments the journalist faced during his or her research, their style of writing, and the impact their piece has had on the public.[2][9] Currently, the Worth Bingham Prize judges include representatives from the Radio-Television News Directors Association, Copley News Service, The New York Times, and Bloomberg News.[10] The prize itself is funded through the tax-exempt Worth Bingham Memorial Fund, which is headquartered in Washington, D.C.[2][11] In order to be eligible for the prize, journalists may submit a single piece, a related number of articles, or three unrelated stories. Columns and editorial pieces are also eligible for the prize.[12] The winner is presented with a trophy and US$10,000, at the Annual Awards Dinner of the National Press Foundation.[13][14]
2019: Christopher Weaver, Dan Frosch, Gabe Johnson, Anna Wilde Mathews, Frank Koughan and colleagues, The Wall Street Journal and PBS's Frontline, Forsaken by the Indian Health Service.[17]
2004:Diana B. Henriques, The New York Times, Captive Clientele – How insurance companies, investment firms and lenders have fleeced thousands of soldiers fighting for their country.
1995: Two winners: Jenni Bergal, Fred Schulte, Sun-Sentinel, The Medicaid HMO Game: Poor Care, Big Profits (and other related articles); and Chris Adams, Times-Picayune, profiteering of Louisiana Medicaid program.
1993: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).
1992: David Boardman, Susan Gilmore, Eric Nalder, Eric Pryne, The Seattle Times, Sexual harassment investigation of U.S. Senator Brock Adams.
1985: David Ashenfelter, Laura Berman, Tom Hundley, Larry Kostecke, Michael Wagner, Detroit Free Press, Series questioning Michigan Corrections Department's practices on prisoner release.
1983: 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).[21]
1982: Alan Green, Bill Hogan, Diane Kiesel, The New Republic, The New Slush Fund Scandal: How congressmen live high on campaign money.
1980: 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, Series exposing how companies bribed federal government officials for lucrative government consulting contracts.
1974:Maxine Cheshire, The Washington Post, Series on whereabouts of state gifts to U.S. officials and their families from foreign leaders and dignitaries. (Presented at the [WHCA] dinner.)[24]
1971: Frank Wright, Minneapolis Star Tribune, How dairy lobby applied financial weight to secure a favorable decision on price supports; implications in political process.
1970: James Clayton, The Washington Post, Series of editorials criticizing President Nixon's nominee to the Supreme Court, G. Harrold Carswell.
