Julie K. Brown of the Miami Herald Wins Prestigious 2026 John Chancellor Award
The Chancellor Award is presented each year to a journalist for their cumulative accomplishments.
Columbia Journalism School announced today that Julie K. Brown of the Miami Herald is the recipient of the 2026 John Chancellor Award for Excellence in Journalism.
Brown is widely considered to be one of the best investigative journalists of her generation. During her 40-year career, she has won some of the highest honors in journalism, including a special citation in 2026 by the Pulitzer Prize Board for her groundbreaking investigation into sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Her 2018 Miami Herald series “Perversion of Justice” led to the arrests of sex traffickers Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell; the resignation of the U.S. secretary of labor; the first arrest of a British Royal in 400 years—and the downfall of countless other powerful people in business, banking, politics and academia around the world.
The ensuing scandal led to the release of millions of Justice Department files about Epstein’s sex trafficking and money laundering empire, and ignited a global reckoning about the delicate balance between power, wealth and morality.
Her previous investigations exposing deadly violence and civil rights abuses in Florida prisons led to firings and ultimately to reforms in the way inmates with mental disabilities are handled in the state prison system.
“Julie K. Brown’s unique talent mixes document-driven investigation, persistence, and that rare ability to build trust with reluctant sources who speak to her because she listens," said Columbia Journalism School Dean Jelani Cobb. "And then she proves to them - through tangible impact - that their stories matter.”
Brown has won two George Polk Awards, a Robert F. Kennedy Award, the Columbia Journalism Award, the Hillman Prize, two National Headliners Awards, PEN America’s Voice of Courage Award and the Don Bolles Medal. In 2020, she was named one of TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people.
She is the author of "Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story," which is the basis for an upcoming Sony TV limited series produced by Oscar-winning director Adam McKay.
“Over the course of a legendary career at the Miami Herald, Julie K. Brown has developed a remarkable track record of finding the shocking - yet untold - stories of the forgotten and vulnerable people whose experiences are never heard, and the authorities who enable their abusers,” said Alex Mena, Executive Editor of the Miami Herald. “Today, victims are still finding justice, and powerful figures remain under scrutiny because of the ground she broke and the body of work she built.”
Work by Julie K. Brown:
Jeffrey Epstein: Perversion of Justice investigation, news | Miami Herald
The John Chancellor Award is presented each year to a journalist for their cumulative accomplishments. The prize honors the legacy of pioneering television correspondent and longtime NBC News Anchor John Chancellor, best remembered for his distinguished reporting on civil rights, politics and election campaigns. Selected by a committee of eight veteran journalists, Julie K. Brown will receive the 2026 award with a $25,000 honorarium in November.