The Center for Public Integrity

The Center for Public Integrity and NPR News received a finalist citation for the  2012 Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting. The two organizations collaborated on a major air pollution investigation called Poisoned Places: Toxic Air, Neglected Communities. The first-place award went to the Associated Press for a series on the the New York Police Department’s surveillance of Muslims after the Sept. 11 terror attacks

The Goldsmith Prize is conferred by the Joan Shorenstein Center for the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University. The  Investigative Reporting prize honors the journalist or journalists whose investigative reporting in a story or series of related stories best promotes more effective and ethical conduct of government, the making of public policy, or the practice of politics.

The other Goldsmith finalists, who each won $10,000, were:

— ABC News’ ”20/20,” for an investigation that uncovered a failure to protect Peace Corps volunteers who fell victim to sex abuse and that prompted a new law.

— The CBS affiliate in Houston, KHOU-TV, for uncovering extreme contamination in Texas drinking water and finding that radiation lab test results were lowered wrongfully.

— The New York Times, for an effort revealing state workers who beat or sexually abused developmentally disabled people kept their jobs, leading New York’s governor to force out two top state officials.

— ProPublica and The Washington Post, for an analysis of the Justice Department’s presidential pardon recommendations during George W. Bush’s administration that showed racial bias and other problems.

The judges also recognized Bloomberg News with a citation for an effort that revealed how the Federal Reserve gave a trillion dollars in bailout loans to Wall Street’s biggest banks.

Dear readers and supporters,

The Center for Public Integrity today undertook personnel and salary changes that put our organization on a solid financial footing for 2012. Sadly, that required laying off four professionals who are valued colleagues and friends. These are the positions we have had to cut:

Two of our Managing Editors; an Office Manager; and a videographer.

These individuals have done outstanding work for the Center and their commitment and loyalty have been valued enormously. We wish them the very best for the future.

Five other open positions have been eliminated and there has been some additional restructuring.

With the support of our board, we are going into 2012 with a leaner budget by about $2 million.  We believe we have taken appropriate action, however hard, to remain effective as one of the strongest non-profit investigative journalism organizations anywhere. We are committed to delivering outstanding journalism in the public interest with a slightly smaller and even more efficient digital newsroom.

--Bill Buzenberg

Executive Director

Starting today, iWatch News readers can get our content on their Android devices, iPads or iPhones through the new Google Currents app.

You can read the latest Center investigations in addition to browsing your favorite iWatch section. Click here to subscribe to our edition, once you've downloaded the app. You can also search for 'iWatch News' within Currents.

From Google's blog post:

We’ve worked with more than 150 publishing partners to offer full-length articles from more than 180 editions including CNET, AllThingsD, Forbes, Saveur, PBS, Huffington Post, Fast Company and more. Content is optimized for smartphones and tablets, allowing you to intuitively navigate between words, pictures and video on large and small screens alike, even if you’re offline.

To get started, simply download the app and choose the publications you want to subscribe to for free. You can also add RSS, video and photo feeds, public Google+ streams and Google Reader subscriptions you’re already following. In addition to consuming your favorite media, you can also use the trending tab to discover related content that matches your tastes.