Panama Papers wins Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting
Toronto Star collaborated on groundbreaking worldwide investigation into corruption
The Panama Papers stories written by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), McClatchy, the Miami Herald, Suddeutsche Zeitung and other media partners, including the Toronto Star, won a Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting on Monday.
“This honour is a testament to the enterprise and teamwork of our staff and our partners here in the United States and around the world,” said Gerard Ryle, ICIJ’s director, in a statement posted on the ICIJ website.
“We’re honoured that the Pulitzer Board recognized the groundbreaking revelations and worldwide im- pact that the Panama Papers collaboration produced.”
The Panama Papers project involved the collaboration of 100 media outlets with journalists in 80 countries who worked together to investigate 11.5 million files leaked from inside Mossack Fonseca, a Panama-headquartered law firm that specialized in building offshore companies.
In a collaborative effort, the Star published more than 50 exclusive reports as part of the Panama Papers leak.
The Star’s Robert Cribb, Marco Chown Oved and Tanya Talaga all contributed to the project that exposed offshore companies linked to more than 140 politicians in more than 50 countries — including14 current or former world leaders, accord- ing to the ICIJ statement.
It also uncovered offshore hideaways tied to megabanks, corporate bribery scandals, drug kingpins, Syria’s air war on its own citizens and a network of people close to Russian President Vladimir Putin that shuffled as much as $2 billion around the world, it said.
Since the Panama Papers broke in early April 2016, the ICIJ has published more than 4,700 news stories based on the leaks that include 40 years of records, such as emails, financial spreadsheets, passport information and corporate records.
The Pulitzer Prize follows 14 major national and international awards for work on the Panama Papers, including a Polk Award and the Barlett and Steele Gold Medal. With files from Star wire services