Trafficking series by The Star wins Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award - KansasCity.com

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Posted on Wed, Apr. 21, 2010 10:15 PM

For its five-part series on human trafficking in the United States, The Kansas City Star has earned the prestigious Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award.

The award, known as the “Poor People’s Pulitzer,” recognizes outstanding coverage of injustice against the underprivileged.

In “A New Slavery,” reporters Laura Bauer, Mike McGraw and Mark Morris exposed America’s weak enforcement system that allows human trafficking to continue.

Last month, Investigative Reporters and Editors Inc. gave an award to the same series.

“The team’s impressive reporting results in a distressing collection of individual narratives and a concise legal and policy-based explanation of the nation’s Trafficking Victims Protection Act,” read an announcement from the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights.

Calling The Star to relay the news, Ethel Kennedy, the widow of the former attorney general, senator and presidential candidate, told one reporter: “You’ve given hope to a lot of people who didn’t have hope before. That’s right in line with Bobby’s legacy.”

Sixty judges, all media professionals, selected the winning entries in 11 categories, and a committee of seven advisers chose a grand prize winner. This year, winners wrote on subjects including infant mortality and Navy abuses against gay sailors.

The Star’s series won in the domestic print category.

“It’s a wonderful honor to win such a distinguished award for journalism that champions human rights and social justice. Those remain among the most important issues in the world today,” said Mike Fannin, editor/vice president of The Star. “This was inspired work, executed by a great team of journalists and well-deserving of recognition.”

The Wall Street Journal won in the international category for “Hearts, Mind and Blood: The Battle for Iran.” Photographers at The Washington Post won in both the domestic and international photography categories. Diane Sawyer from “20/20” on ABC News won in the domestic television category for her work on enduring poverty in Appalachia.

Ethel Kennedy will present the awards May 26 in Washington, D.C., where the grand prize winner will be announced.

Meredith Rodriguez, mrodriguez@kcstar.com

Trafficking series by The Star wins Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award - KansasCity.com