The Center for Public Integrity won three 1st Place honors in the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi Awards, the Society of Professional Journalists announced Tuesday, with journalists recognized for investigations into a mysterious kidney disease, the shadowy trade in human body parts, and threats to blue collar workers.
The projects were among winners in an SPJ contest drawing nearly 1,700 submissions. This is the second straight year the Center has won three top honors for public service, investigative and non-deadline reporting.
The winning projects:
- Mystery in the Fields, by writer Sasha Chavkin, photojournalist Anna Barry-Jester and editor Ronnie Greene, won Public Service in Online Journalism. The series explored how a rare kidney disease is afflicting laborers across continents – and how governments, including the U.S., have been slow to raise alarms.
- Skin & Bone, produced by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, a project of the Center, won for Investigative Reporting Online. The series revealed how the business of recycling dead humans into medical implants has flourished.
- Hard Labor, by Jim Morris, Chris Hamby and Ronnie Greene, won the top prize for Non-deadline Reporting Online. The reports exposed the workplace and environmental perils U.S. workers encounter in the face of regulatory breakdowns.