T. Christian Miller, ProPublica senior reporter, and Ken Armstrong, staff writer for The Marshall Project, are the winners of the 2016 John Bartlow Martin Award for Public Interest Magazine Journalism for their jointly reported piece “An Unbelievable Story of Rape.” Sponsored by Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, the award recognizes work that illuminates the causes, consequences or remedies of a problem in American society.
Miller and Armstrong’s feature tells the story of a botched rape investigation, in which a young woman was misbelieved by police and pressured to recant her rape report, as well as the hunt for a serial rapist.
“Among a phenomenal and record-breaking group of entries, ‘An Unbelievable Story of Rape’ stood out not only for the amazing reporting and story it exposed, but also for its craft and narration,” said Associate Professor Patti Wolter, chairwoman of Medill’s magazine department and the selection committee’s lead judge.
Judges also awarded honorable mention to “Level 14” by ProPublica reporter Joaquin Sapien, published in partnership with California Sunday Magazine. This story chronicled allegations of abuse and neglect at a group home for troubled children in Long Beach, California. One month after the story’s publication, the state passed legislation to overhaul California’s juvenile group home system, and the facility spotlighted later closed down.
