The six stories that were brought to light by the 2023 finalists for the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting demonstrated some of the worst problems of public policy and governance in America:  

Failures in taxpayer-funded education.  

Abuse in the federal prison system.  

Fraud in a police disability program.  

Manipulation of the media by power companies.  

Subversion of federal welfare funds by state officials.  

Violations of child labor laws in American factories.  

All six not only brought these issues to national awareness, but they drove real change.  

Representatives of each finalist reporting team joined a conversation on Wednesday, March 8th 2023, moderated by Shorenstein Center director Nancy Gibbs. They discussed the often-tiny clues that first spurred these extensive reporting projects, the lengths needed to uncover the truth, and the impact that their reporting has had on U.S. public policy and the practice of governance.  

Watch the recording of this conversation: