Press Room

Atlantic Media Announces Finalists for the 2017 Michael Kelly Award

Fourteenth Annual Award Recognizes Fearless Pursuit and Expression of Truth in Journalism; Reporting from the Associated Press, Mother Jones, Reuters, and The Washington Post Honored

Washington, D.C. (March 22, 2017)—Atlantic Media has selected four finalists for its 14th annual Michael Kelly Award. Atlantic Media Chairman David Bradley created the award to celebrate the life and career of Michael Kelly, a former editor of two Atlantic Media publications—The Atlantic and National Journal—who was killed in Iraq while covering the war in 2003.

Selected from a highly competitive field of submissions, finalists were chosen by a panel of judges for work that displays the courage, determination, and passion exemplified by Kelly. The 2017 finalists are:

  • Shane Bauer of Mother Jones for his investigation of a resource-starved private prison in Louisiana where he spent four months as a correctional officer.

  • Hannah Dreier of the Associated Press for her coverage of the impact of the economic crisis in Venezuela on residents struggling to find food and health care.

  • David Fahrenthold of The Washington Post for a series of investigative pieces on Donald Trump’s deceptive charitable activities.

  • Selam Gebrekidan, Stephen Grey, and Amina Ismail of Reuters for a series of stories on the smuggling networks that profit from the transport of refugees from Africa and the Middle East to Europe.

The finalists will be honored at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. on April 9, when the winner of the $25,000 first place prize will be announced. The finalists will each receive $3,000.

Five judges selected the finalists: Susan Davis, a congressional reporter with NPR; Charles Green, former editor of National Journal; Susan Mercandetti, editor-at-large at Random House; Cullen Murphy, editor-at-large of Vanity Fair; and Michael Phillips, a staff reporter with The Wall Street Journal and past finalist for the Michael Kelly Award. The finalists are all first-time honorees.

Headquartered in Washington, D.C. and New York City, Atlantic Media’s portfolio includes The Atlantic, CityLab, Defense One, Government Executive, National Journal, and Quartz. Atlantic Media brands are ineligible for the Michael Kelly Award.

Additional information about the Michael Kelly Award can be found at www.KellyAward.com