Professor and Alums Win Prestigious duPont-Columbia Awards for Investigative Stories
Professor Jennifer LaFleur and alums Brian Howey (’22) and Steven Rascón (’22) have won prestigious duPont-Columbia Awards, which honor the year’s best audio and video “reporting, storytelling and impact in the public interest.” The awards were presented at a ceremony at Columbia University’s Low Library on January 22.
“These investigations by faculty, alums and their teams represent the very best of UC Berkeley Journalism — excellent reporting that has a real-world impact — and we are so honored to see the reporting acknowledged in this way,” said Elena Conis, UC Berkeley Journalism’s acting dean.
LaFleur, a former senior editor at the Center for Public Integrity was the Public Integrity editor on the three-part series “40 Acres and a Lie,” a collaboration with Reveal, The Center for Public Integrity, Mother Jones and PRX, about a U.S. government program that gave — and then took away — land titles to more than 1,200 formerly enslaved people in the immediate post-Civil War era. The team spent more than two and a half years on the series, searching nearly 2 million documents and researching the lineage of formerly enslaved Americans to tell their stories and find their living descendents. The audio investigation employed artificial intelligence tools.
Rascón (‘22) was the production manager for the series, which also won the Society of Professional Journalists NorCal Excellence in Journalism Award for Public Service and was honored with second place in the Investigative Reporters and Editors Philip Meyer Journalism Award.
“This was one of the most challenging projects I’ve worked on, but also one of the most rewarding. It truly was an honor to work with a dedicated team that produced powerful stories that reveal the truth behind 40 acres and a mule,” said LaFleur, who leads Berkeley Journalism’s Data Journalism Program. “Our hope is that families will learn more about their histories through the stories and the materials that we have made public.”
Howey won a duPont Award for his story “We Regret to Inform You” which aired on Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting, about how California police are trained to plumb the families of people killed by police for derogatory information about their dead relatives before telling them their loved one had died — for the purpose of helping police departments shield themselves from lawsuits.
Howey reported his story with support from Investigative Reporting Program Chair David Barstow, IRP News Editor Christine Schiavo, and Special Projects Editor Wesley Lowery. The story, which also ran in the Los Angeles Times, won a Polk Award in 2024 and spurred efforts in California’s Assembly to ban the practice.
“When I first began investigating this story as a J-School student, I never dreamed this story would have such an impact,” said Howey. “It’s an enormous relief that this reporting has sparked action, reflection and discussion by lawmakers, advocates and the policing profession, both in California and across the country.”
Howey extended his thanks to “all of the talented and driven folks at Reveal who made this episode a reality,” including editor Jenny Casas and producer Najib Aminy.
Barstow congratulated Howey on a rigorous and lengthy investigation that began in his “Blockbuster” investigations class at UC Berkeley’s Investigative Reporting Program in 2019.
“Brian Howey’s investigation followed every lead to uncover the story of those callously wronged by this police practice in California,” Barstow said. “This journalism will no doubt have an impact beyond the story.”
LaFleur recognized her team at the Center for Public Integrity, including Alexia Fernández Campbell, April Simpson, Pratheek Rebala as well as, she said, her “equally amazing Reveal team,” including Nadia Hamdan, Roy Hurst and Cynthia Rodriguez.
Sixteen stories were selected from 30 finalists and hundreds of entries across audio and video for the 2025 duPont-Columbia Awards.