The six stories that were brought to light by the 2025 finalists for the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting remind us of the essential role of a free press in safeguarding democracy at a time of great upheaval and uncertainty in our country. Their reporting had profound impact on public policy in the United States, resulting in:
changed policies about dangerous police pursuits
reforms within the addiction recovery industry
long-term health benefits for U.S. military personnel
more oversight of California police agencies
revised drug testing rules for birthing patients
reduced corruption in the Medicare Advantage system
Their stories empowered some of the nation’s most vulnerable populations and serve as a critical check on institutions that we all rely on.
Watch representatives of each finalist reporting team for a discussion on the craft and impact of their work, and the importance of investigative journalism in our democracy.
Panelists include:
- Jennifer Gollan, The San Francisco Chronicle | Fast and Fatal
- A.J. Lagoe, KARE-TV | KARE 11 Investigates: Recovery Inc.
- Dave Philipps, The New York Times | Our Troops’ Wounded Brains
- Katey Rusch, The San Francisco Chronicle & the UC Berkeley Investigative Reporting Program | Right to Remain Secret
- Shoshana Walter, The Marshall Project, Reveal, Mother Jones, and USA Today | She Ate a Poppy Seed Salad Before Giving Birth. Then They Took Her Baby Away
- Christopher Weaver, The Wall Street Journal | Medicare Inc.: How Giant Insurers Make Billions Off Seniors
The winner will be announced at the awards ceremony, to be held later that day on April 3, 2025, at the JFK Jr. Forum at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. The in-person ceremony will be livestreamed at GoldsmithAwards.org and ShorensteinCenter.org. Visit GoldsmithAwards.org to learn more about this year’s finalists, and to browse the archives.
Moderator:
Kathleen Caroll is a veteran journalism leader and press freedom advocate. From 2017 to 2023, she chaired the board of the Committee to Protect Journalists, a global organization that helps endangered journalists and advocates for press freedoms. From 2002 through 2016, Carroll was executive editor and senior vice president of The Associated Press. As the top news executive of the world’s largest independent news agency, she was responsible for coverage from journalists in more than 100 countries, including groundbreaking new bureaus in North Korea and Myanmar. Under her leadership, AP journalists won numerous awards, among them five Pulitzer Prizes – including the 2016 Pulitzer for Public Service – six George Polk Awards and 15 Overseas Press Club Awards. Today, she chairs the board of Montclair Local, a startup nonprofit news organization in New Jersey.
Carroll is a fierce advocate for a robust independent press and a frequent speaker on the threats to journalistic access. She also is a leader on vital security issues for journalists working in hostile environments and was the first journalist ever to address the United Nations Security Council on the topic. She is a frequent contest judge and consultant on ethical and standards issues. From 2003 to 2012, she was a member of the Pulitzer Prize Board, the last year as co-chair, and has served on the advisory board of the Edmond &Lily Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard.
Before taking the top job at AP, Carroll led the Knight Ridder Washington bureau and worked for the AP in Washington, Los Angeles and Dallas. She was an editor at the International Herald Tribune and the San Jose Mercury News and a reporter at the Dallas Morning News in her hometown. She is married to author Steve Twomey, and they are the proud parents of an adult son.
