Journalist Wins For Investigative Reporting

A New York Times business reporter who exposed insurance scandals victimizing American soldiers was awarded the $25,000 Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting by The Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at the Kennedy School of Government (KSG).

In a ceremony Tuesday night, Diana B. Henriques was honored for her report, “Captive Clientele.” According to a KSG press release, Henriques’ article detailed how soldiers and their families were scammed, often by former military officials,

“[The report] focused on how financial companies use their close ties to the military to sell expensive, unsuitable financial products—insurance, mutual funds, loans—to young, unsophisticated members of in the armed services,” Henriques wrote in an e-mail last night. “[It’s] a problem that has persisted for decades because of weak oversight by Congress and the Pentagon.”

The Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting honors journalists whose reporting “best promotes more effective and ethical conduct of government, the making of public policy, or the practice of politics,” according to the Shorenstein Center website.

Henriques said she was humbled by the award.

“The Goldsmith Prize does a great service to journalism by showcasing such inspiring work, and helps remind us all of how important investigative reporting can be when it is done well,” she wrote.

Alex S. Jones, director of the Shorenstein Center, said that the panel of judges who decided to award Henriques the prize were struck by the “injustice” her reports exposed.

He said the panel that selected Henriques consisted of six journalists and non-journalists who gathered in Cambridge for a day to make their decision. They decided to honor Henriques after reviewing hundreds of stories from different reporters, Jones said.

Jones said that the judges panel was “moved” by her discoveries of how the soldiers were misled.

Henriques and other finalists for the award—who were affiliated with the Atlantic Monthly, The Seattle Times, and the Atlanta Journal Constitution, among others—participated in a panel at the KSG’s John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum yesterday.

Jones said Henriques’ “anger” at the scams was clearly visible at yesterday’s panel.

According to Jones, Henriques was most angry that young soldiers were “betrayed” by former military officers whom they trusted.

Charles Sheehan-Miles, executive director of “Veterans for Common Sense”—a veteran’s organization concerned with the state of national security and the treatment of soldiers—said he applauded Henriques’ receipt of the award.

“I think it’s excellent,” Sheehan-Miles said.

He also said he shared Henriques’ concern for the victims of the scandals.

The Goldsmith Awards Program was launched in 1991, according to its website. Aside from the award for Investigative Reporting, the Goldsmith Awards Program includes two book prizes, Fellowships and the Goldsmith Career Award for Excellence in Journalism.