Announcing the Winners of the 2025 WERT Global and Welles Prizes

The Knight-Bagehot Fellowship in Economics and Business Journalism at Columbia Journalism School announced that the WERT Global Prize for outstanding business reporting by a woman has been awarded to a team of five reporters from The Wall Street Journal and that an independent book author and a reporter from The Boston Globe have been awarded the 2025 Christopher J. Welles Memorial Prize. The judges also named a Washington Post reporter as a finalist for the Welles Prize.

The prizes will be presented tonight at the Knight-Bagehot 50th Anniversary Dinner at the Marriott Marquis in New York City. 

This year’s WERT Global Prize was awarded to a team of Wall Street Journal reporters for a series exposing workplace discrimination and harassment at the World Economic Forum, sponsor of the Davos gatherings. The reporting led to a board investigation and prompted the departure of WEF founder Klaus Schwab and other executives. 

The Journal investigation was led by reporters Shalini Ramachandran and Khadeeja Safdar, who interviewed more than 80 former and current staffers and reviewed emails, texts, HR complaints and legal documents that backed up the claims of a toxic workplace that did not live up to the ideals it expounded publicly. AnnaMaria Andriotis, Jenny Strasburg, Knight-Bagehot Class of 2006 and Suzanne Vranica joined in to expand and follow the story after the initial exposé. 

“The Wall Street Journal’s investigation into the World Economic Forum stands out for its rigor, courage, and impact,” said WERT Global Judge Jessica Liebman. “By exposing systemic harassment and discrimination at one of the world’s most influential business institutions, it not only revealed hypocrisy but also spurred meaningful change, including an independent investigation and leadership shake-up. This is business journalism at its best: original, consequential, and global in scope.”

The Welles Prize judges elected to award two entries this year. One prize goes to Globe Media economics reporter Omar Mohammed, Knight-Bagehot Class of 2022, for his series in The Boston Globe examining the impact of the Trump administration’s economic policies on local small businesses and manufacturers. His stories included a look at how tariffs are causing chaos for local manufacturers and how firms that rely on exports to China have been affected. 

“The writer creatively puts a human face on Trump tariff policies and what it means for Main Street and local manufacturers,” said Welles Prize Judge Leslie Wayne. “And it shows how so many businesses are bracing for impacts that will only hurt them.”

The judges also awarded a Welles Prize to Barbara Demick, Knight-Bagehot Class of 1985, for her book, “Daughters of the Bamboo Grove,” which examined the human and economic costs of China’s one-child policy.

The book “blew me away,” said Welles Prize Judge Quentin Hardy. “It was a rich story about the trade in children during the rise of China, the unintended consequences of misguided state policies, greed and excessive self-esteem guiding the parties - all wrapped by a compelling story about a particular family.”

The judges also cited Washington Post reporter Douglas MacMillan, Knight-Bagehot Class of 2017, as a finalist for his series “Arrested by AI,” which uncovered how the use of AI by police forces has led to false arrests and violations of standard investigative tactics. “As the world grapples with the use of new technologies and AI, this powerful series shines a light on one type of its use and the negative consequences that can happen when not used carefully and with guardrails,” said Judge Wayne. “This was an important and powerful -- and troubling -- series of stories.”

“These stories drove home the importance of expert reporting at the local, national and global level,” said Knight-Bagehot Director Robert Smith. “They show the human impact of business, economic, political and social policies and exemplify the best of business journalism. We’re proud to honor the work of these reporters.”

The WERT Global Prize honors excellence in comprehensively reported business journalism by a woman that fosters a greater understanding of global business. The WERT Global Prize was established in 2018 and is funded by a bequest from the Women’s Economic Round Table and support from the Muriel F. Siebert Foundation and the global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company. 

The WERT Global Prize committee members included Kimberly Johnson, corporate editor, The New York Times; Jessica Liebman, chief people officer, Business Insider; and Kimi Yoshino, managing editor, The Washington Post. Knight-Bagehot alumni who read entries in the first round of judging included Emma Cosgrove, Ryan Kailath, Olivia Konotey-Ahulu, Meghan Morris, Ralf Rivas, Ken Sweet, Kate Taylor and Cory Weinberg.

The Welles Prize honors the memory of Christopher J. Welles, a former director of the Knight-Bagehot Fellowship and a top business writer known for his penetrating accounts of malfeasance, corruption and corporate collapses. It is given annually to a Knight-Bagehot graduate. 

Knight-Bagehot alumni participating in the Welles Prize selection included Hardy, Principal of communications consultancy LGTM; Robert Smith, Knight-Bagehot Class of 2019, Director of the Knight-Bagehot Fellowship; and Leslie Wayne, Knight-Bagehot Class of 1980, a former New York Times business writer. 

The Knight-Bagehot Fellowship offers experienced journalists the opportunity to enhance their understanding and knowledge of business, economics, finance and technology and gain a deep understanding of the business of journalism through a full-time program run by Columbia Journalism School. The fellowship is named for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation of Miami, which established an endowment for the program, and Walter Bagehot, the 19th­-century editor of The Economist.