Panama Papers win Pulitzer Prize

WASHINTON: The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) has won Pulitzer Prize, the highest journalism award in the United States, in recognition of its Panama Papers — a project carried out in collaboration with 100 media partners across six continents. 

Jang Group was the ICIJ’s partner from Pakistan. The Pulitzer Board admired the year-long investigation for “using a collaboration of more than 300 reporters on six continents to expose the hidden infrastructure and global scale of offshore tax havens.” 

Umar Cheema of The News was the only journalist from Pakistan engaged in this project. The investigation brought to the world’s attention the offshore companies identified in connection with 140 politicians in more than 50 countries. Included among them are 14 current or former political leaders. 

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s three children were among 400 Pakistani owners of offshore companies identified in Panama Papers. Offshore hideaways tied to mega-banks, corporate bribery scandals, drug kingpins, Syria’s air war on its own citizens and the cronies of Russian President Vladimir Putin who hid $2 billion in different parts of the world were also identified through Panama Papers.   

 “This honor 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.  “We are honored that the Pulitzer Board recognized the groundbreaking revelations and worldwide impact that the Panama Papers collaboration produced.”

The Panama Papers investigation was initially entered into the international reporting category where it was shortlisted, however, it was later announced as the winner in explanatory reporting category.

Gerard also paid rich tribute to two German reporters, the first recipient of 1-5 million secret documents later named as Panama Papers.  The investigation would not have been possible without the collaborative spirit of Bastian Obermayer and Frederick Obermaier, the German journalists.  

Instead of hoarding the documents for themselves and their newspaper, Gerard said, they shared them with the ICIJ which allowed it to pull together cross-border partnership and join forces with more than 100 news organizations to investigate the explosive documents.

The Panama Papers team started work in early 2015 and published their first stories in April 2016 which followed by follow-ups and new revelations. They pored over millions of confidential emails and corporate documents. 

Team members deployed software tools and used ICIJ’s online virtual newsroom to collaborate with colleagues in far-flung time zones, creating more than 130 discussion groups. The Pulitzer Prizes are regarded as the preeminent honor in journalism. This is the 101st year that Columbia’s School of Journalism has awarded the Pulitzer Prizes. Other news outlets honored with it include The New York Times, The Washington Post and others.

Panama Papers project has won other prizes for its collaborative and impactful nature. They include George Polk Award for financial journalism, Gold Barlett and Steele Award for investigative journalism, Investigative Reporters and Editors award for innovation in investigative journalism, the Gannett Award for innovation, O’ Brien Fellowship Award for impact in public service journalism, Best-in-Business award for reporting on banking and finance, Al Neuharth Innovation in Investigative Journalism Award, Data Journalism’s Investigation of the Year award, Datanami Editor’s Choice for Top Big Data Achievement award, Maria Moors Cabot Prize Special Citation, Perfil Freedom of Expression Award, Creating Publishing and Critical Journalism Award, Eppy Award for best collaborative investigative/enterprise reporting, Talend Data Masters’ Grand Prize winner, Business Journalism award and others.