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professional

The Miami Herald

May 2005Present

Investigative Reporter

  • Award-winning investigative reporter specializing in watchdog stories that uncover wrongdoing, abuse of power, government corruption and abuses of vulnerable people. 
  • Exposed inmate abuse, cover-ups and suspicious deaths in the Florida prison system, the third-largest in the nation. The three-year, award-winning project led to an overhaul of the agency, including the resignations of the secretary and inspector general, the firings and arrests of corrections officers, millions of dollars in reforms and sweeping changes in the treatment of mentally ill, disabled, youthful offenders and female prisoners. 
  • Investigated criminal justice cases, including a series detailing how a former federal prosecutor, Alex Acosta, negotiated a secret plea deal for Jeffrey Epstein, a multimillionaire sex trafficker who molested hundreds of underage girls. The series led to Epstein's arrest, Acosta's resignation as U.S. labor secretary and three different investigations by the Department of Justice and a fourth by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. It also led to scrutiny of other people and institutions who enabled him, including Prince Andrew, Harvard University and MIT; and proposed changes in the federal Crime Victims' Rights Act.
  • Covered school shootings, hurricanes and other breaking news, uncovering the deeper stories that lie beneath the surface of major tragedies and national events, such as the Parkland school shootings.
  • Appeared on local and national radio and television shows as a commentator on topics such as law enforcement, prison reform, racial profiling and the importance of local journalism

Philadelphia Daily News

May 1996May 2005

Night City Editor/Reporter

  • As night city editor, responsible for supervising the evening news operation, night staff writers, all city desk copy and breaking news stories
  • Formerly worked as a news reporter, specializing in breaking news, crime and investigative reporting
  • Wrote a series of stories about an epidemic of Hepatitis C infections among Philadelphia firefighters. The stories led to mandatory national testing among public safety workers 
  • Covered the plane crash involving John F. Kennedy Jr. and the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster

Senior Staff Writer

  • Covered education, breaking news and investigative stories for award-winning suburban Philadelphia newspaper

Bethlehem Globe-Times

19881990

Staff Writer

  • Police Reporter for Bethlehem, PA daily newspaper

National Public Radio

19861986

Intern, Washington, DC

  • Worked for Morning Edition as an intern while in college

awards

Columbia University

2022

Pulitzer Prize in Journalism for Breaking News

Staff of the Miami Herald for coverage of the Surfside Collapse

Knight Foundation

2020

Esserman-Knight Journalism Award

Columbia University Graduate School

2020

2020 Columbia Journalism Award

Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

Freedom of the Press Award 2020

For uncovering injustices in the criminal justice system

Time Magazine

2020 Time Magazine 100 most influential people of the year

Freedom Forum

Freedom of Expression Award 2020

University of Miami School of Law

William M. Hoeveler Award for Public Service 2020

Women's Media Center

Women's Media Center Investigative Journalism Award 2019

PEN America

Dan Eldon Voice of Courage Award 2019

National Press Club

Neil and Susan Sheehan Prize for Investigative Journalism 2019

Long Island University

George Polk Award for Justice Reporting 2019

Center for Journalism Ethics University of Wisconsin-Madison

Anthony Shadid Award for Journalism Ethics 2019

Atlantic City Press Association

National Headliner's Award Best of Show 2019

First place, Investigative Reporting, "Perversion of Justice."

Sidney Hillman Foundation

Hillman Prize for Journalism in the Common Good 2019

American Association of Justice

The Leonard Weinglass in Defense of Civil Liberties Award 2017

For efforts in exposing civil rights abuses in the Florida prison system

Long Island University

George Polk Award for Justice Reporting 2014

Co-winner with the New York Times,

for "Cruel and Unusual," a series of stories that led to overhaul of Florida Prisons

Atlantic City Press Association

National Headliners Award

Best of Show 2014

Investigative Reporting 2014 for "Cruel and Unusual."

RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights

Robert F. Kennedy Award for Justice Reporting

Won Story of the Year 2014 (Best of Show)

Won first place in the domestic print category for a series of stories that led to reform of Florida Prisons

Florida Society of Newspaper Editors

Paul Hansell Award for Distinguished Achievement in Florida Journalism

2015 for "Cruel and Unusual"

Florida Society of Professional Journalists

Gene Miller Award for Investigative Reporting

2015 for "Cruel and Unusual"

2013 for Best Beat Reporting

ACLU of Florida

Gene Miller Voice of Freedom Award 2015

For stories on the Florida prison system

Society of Professional Journalists, Greater PhiladelphiaChapter

First Place, Breaking News 1995, 1990, 1989

Best Public Service, 1991

Education

Temple University

19841987

Bachelor of Arts in Journalism

Minor: Political Science

GPA: 3.8 Graduated Magna Cum Laude

Member of the National Journalism Honors Society

Articles

other professional

Journalist in Residence, Temple University's Logan Center for Investigative Reporting, 2022

Author, "Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story," published by Harper Collins 2021

Executive Producer, "Broken: Jeffrey Epstein" Sony podcast 2019

Speaker, Journalism school at University of Pennsylvania

Speaker, Journalism program at University of Delaware

Speaker, the 20th New Yorker Festival, 2019

Panelist, University of California Berkeley Logan Symposium on Investigative Journalism, 2019

Panelist, Long Island University panel on investigative journalism, 2019

Panelist, Washington Post, seminar on local journalism, 2019

Panelist, IRE convention 2019, 2015

Speaker, panelist, Harvard University, symposium on Criminal Justice Reform, 2015