Season 2 of the Center for Public Integrity’s podcast, “The Heist,” has won a 2023 Salute to Excellence Award from the National Association of Black Journalists.
“The Wealth Vortex,” which confronted America’s racial wealth gap through the story of an Iowa woman attempting to open the country’s first Black-owned bank in decades, was recognized by NABJ for best interactive feature.
In addition to a five-episode podcast, the project included long-form text reporting, photography, drone video, resources for readers and listeners, a limited-run newsletter to share behind-the-scenes details, and an interactive text-messaging service pointing to more about the story.
The podcast, produced in partnership with Transmitter Media (now Pushkin), was nominated for a Peabody award earlier this year in addition to numerous other journalism and podcast industry honors.
Season 3 of The Heist — “Land of Broken Promises” — will be out in October. Land of Broken Promises will explore the federal government’s role in harming generations of Black farmers.
“I’m grateful to this newsroom for giving reporters time and support to dig deeply into entrenched problems that fuel inequality, and grateful to the people who share their experiences with us,” said Jamie Smith Hopkins, a Public Integrity editor and senior reporter who hosted season 2. “We’re honored to receive this recognition from the National Association of Black Journalists.”
In addition to winning a 2023 NABJ Salute to Excellence Award for best interactive feature, Public Integrity was a finalist for best news story for an investigation by Ashley Clarke and Amy DiPierro into a Washington, D.C., housing program. The story was published in partnership with the Washington Informer newspaper.
In addition to its Peabody nomination, Season 2 of “The Heist” has also been recognized this year with an Excellence in Financial Journalism award for best audio reporting; an award from the Shaufler Prize; a Signal Award silver medal; a “Best in Business” award; and finalist honors from the Ambie Awards, Dateline Awards, WAN-IFRA North American Digital Media Awards, Online Journalism Awards and the INN Nonprofit News Awards.
Public Integrity’s investigative reporting about inequality in the United States was recently awarded a national 2023 Edward R. Murrow Award for Overall Excellence. Other Public Integrity work this year has been honored with the Paul Tobenkin Award, a National Headliner Award, Mental Health America’s 2023 Media Award, Dateline Awards, the Gracie Awards and the shortlist for the Sigma Award recognizing the world’s best data journalism.
Founded in 1989, the Center for Public Integrity is one of the oldest nonprofit news organizations in the country and is dedicated to investigating systems and circumstances that contribute to inequality in the United States.