The Paul Tobenkin Memorial Award | Columbia Journalism School

The Paul Tobenkin Memorial Award is given annually at graduation and honors the late New York Herald Tribune reporter and recognizes outstanding achievements in reporting on racial or religious hatred, intolerance or discrimination in the United States. The award is judged by the faculty of the Journalism School. #TobenkinAward

How to Enter

2023 Paul Tobenkin Award Winner

2023 Paul Tobenkin Award Winner Citation:

Yvette Cabrera, a senior reporter at the Center for Public Integrity, has won the 2023 Paul Tobenkin Award for her investigation of the devastating effects of uranium mining on the Navajo Nation. Published with ICT, formerly Indian Country Today, Cabrera’s investigation laid bare generations of suffering caused by radioactive waste from hundreds of uranium mines the U.S. government used to make nuclear weapons during the Cold War. Earl Tulley, a Navajo activist who tried to hold the government accountable for the multitude of cancers and deaths in his community caused by the toxic waste, was a key source in Cabrera’s reporting. But when Tulley discovered during the reporting that he had an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a cancer linked to radiation exposure, he became the centerpiece of the narrative. Cabrera powerfully traces Tulley’s story in the Blue Gap-Tachee community against a bleak history of destruction and neglect by the U.S. government on Navajo land. The result is a story of unbreakable courage in the face of systemic cruelty.

Read the full announcement.

The Tobenkin Award will open for nominations in January 2024.

The Paul Tobenkin Memorial Award and its $1,500 prize are given for distinguished reporting about race, discrimination and religious intolerance. Authors may submit a portfolio of single articles or a published series. Print, radio, broadcast and digital reporting are eligible for the award. All entries must have been published in the U.S. during 2022, though in the case of a series or ongoing story, work that appeared in January 2023 will be accepted.

How to Nominate

ALL materials should be formatted and uploaded as PDFs. Supporting multimedia presentations can be sent as URLs. Links must remain live.

If you know a journalist who deserves to be recognized, please submit the completed nomination form and pertinent material. There is no entry fee.

To nominate a journalist, please submit the following materials:

A brief letter from the editor indicating the scope of the reporter's work, including links to any websites created for the project.
A brief biography of the reporter.
Up to five articles published in 2021 that best typify the reporter's work.

Please keep in mind:

Published stories may take the form of a single project, a portfolio of the reporter’s best work or a series.
If material lives online, please provide direct links.
For all visual elements, the name of the photographer or graphic artist should be included on all entry forms.
Supporting material will not be returned.

The Paul Tobenkin Memorial Award was established at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1959 — during the heart of the civil rights movement — to honor the work of Paul Tobenkin, the New York Herald Tribune reporter, and to recognize outstanding achievements in reporting on racial or religious hatred, intolerance or discrimination in the United States.

2022
Ian Shapira, The Washington Post, Series of investigative stories that forced a reckoning at Virginia Military Institute, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Judges: Daniel Alarcón, Dolores A. Barclay and Ari Goldman

2021
Susan Ferriss, Joe Yerardi and Taylor Johnston (Winners), Center for Public Integrity, Hidden Hardship

Justine van der Leun (Finalist), Type Investigations, The Evidence Against Her

Judges: Nina Alvarez, Dolores A. Barclay and Elena Cabral

2020
Kyle Hopkins, Anchorage Daily News, Lawless

Judges: Elena Cabral, Lisa R. Cohen and Ari Goldman

2019
Ginger Thompson, Michael Grabell and Topher Sanders, ProPublica, Zero Tolerance

Judges: Daniel Alarcón, Elena Cabral and Lonnie Isabel

2018
Reporters, ProPublica and the Florida Times-Union, Walking While Black

Judges: Daniel Alarcón, Elena Cabral, Lonnie Isabel

2017
Jenni Monet (Winner), independent journalist, Reveal, Coverage of the Standing Rock Sioux battle against the Dakota Access oil pipeline: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

Will Evans (Special Citation), Account of the widespread employer practice of using temp agencies to discriminate against workers based on race, gender, age and even sexual orientation: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

Judges: Elena Cabral, Jelani Cobb and Keith Gessen

2016
Terrence McCoy (Winner, ’12 MA Politics graduate), The Washington Post, Investigative stories about lead poisoning victims: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Talia Buford, Ronnie Greene, Kristen Lombardi and Amber Payne (Special Citation), The Center for Public Integrity and NBCBLK, Environmental Justice, Denied

Judges: Elena Cabral, June Cross and Abi Wright

2015
Mark Puente, The Baltimore Sun, Undue Force

Judges: Elena Cabral, Barbara Kantrowitz and Abi Wright

2014
Susan Ferriss, Center for Public Integrity, Throwaway Kids

Judges: Elena Cabral, June Cross and Barbara Kantrowitz

2013
Nikole Hannah-Jones, ProPublica, Living Apart: Fair Housing in America

Judges: Elena Cabral, June Cross and Barbara Kantrowitz

2012
Matt Apuzzo, Adam Goldman, Chris Hawley and Eileen Sullivan, The Associated Press, Series outlining the NYPD’s surveillance of minority and particularly Muslim neighborhoods since the 9/11 terror attacks

Judges: Elena Cabral, Howard French and Barbara Kantrowitz

2011
Tina Griego, The Denver Post, Raising Sun Valley

Judges:Columbia Journalism School Faculty

2010
Nina Bernstein, The New York Times, Series of articles documenting the mistreatment of immigrants in federal custody