Joe Stephens (journalist)

Joe Stephens
OccupationJournalist
Notable credit(s)Washington Post,
Kansas City Star

Joe Stephens is an American journalist for The Washington Post, and holds the Ferris professorship in journalism at Princeton University.[1] He is a native of Ohio and attended Miami University. He was an investigative projects reporter at The Kansas City Star before joining the Post in 1999.

Notable investigations

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Among Stephens most important investigative reporting series are pieces about The Nature Conservancy's business dealings[2][3] and "The Body Hunters", about multinational pharmaceutical testing scandals in Nigeria.[4]

In 2011, Stephens and his Post colleague Carol D. Leonnig revealed in a series of stories how the Obama administration pressed to approve a $535 million federal loan to Solyndra, a solar panel manufacturer whose leading investors were tied to a major Obama fundraiser.[5]

Academia

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Stephens was a visiting 2012 Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University.[6] He was appointed to the Ferris professorship in residence at Princeton in 2014 [7] In 2018, he helped found Princeton's first formal Program in Journalism, and became its inaugural director.[8][9]

Awards

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Stephens has won more than a dozen national honors, including three George Polk Awards: the 1998 Polk Award for Legal Reporting (while at the Star), the 1994 Polk Award for Political Reporting (also with The Kansas City Star) and the 2005 Foreign Reporting Award with David B. Ottaway (while at The Washington Post). According to The Washington Post, Stephens has written three series that were Pulitzer Prize finalists. Stephens has won top awards from the Overseas Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists and Investigative Reporters and Editors, among others.[10] He shared the 2004 Gerald Loeb Award for Large Newspapers with David B. Ottaway.[11] With Washington Post colleague Lena H. Sun, Stephens was a 2010 finalist for the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting for their "Death on the Rails" series.[12] Stephens had been a finalist twice before. He shared in an Edward R. Murrow Award for investigative TV reporting out of Afghanistan.[13]

Stephens has been a judge or juror for many journalism awards, including the Pulitzer Prize.[citation needed] He is a director of the Fund for Investigative Journalism.[14]

References

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  1. ^ "Princeton University - Stephens of The Washington Post named Ferris Professor in Residence". www.princeton.edu. Retrieved 2016-04-29.
  2. ^ Dean Zerbe, "Lessons From the Nature Conservancy-BP Controversy" (May 27, 2010). Chronicle of Philanthropy.
  3. ^ "Eye on the Nature Conservancy" (May 15, 2003). Living on Earth.
  4. ^ "WikiLeaks Cables: Pfizer Targeted Nigerian Attorney General to Undermine Suit over Fatal Drug Tests" (December 17, 2010). Democracy Now!
  5. ^ Stephens, Joe; Leonnig, Carol D. (13 September 2011). "Solyndra loan: White House pressed on review of solar company now under investigation". The Washington Post. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
  6. ^ "Current Professors of Journalism." Council of the Humanities, Princeton University.
  7. ^ "Princeton University - Stephens of The Washington Post named Ferris Professor in Residence". www.princeton.edu. Retrieved 2016-04-29.
  8. ^ "After more than 50 years of journalism classes, U. students, faculty celebrate new journalism certificate". The Princetonian. Retrieved 2021-11-16.
  9. ^ "Stephens Named Founding Director of the new Program in Journalism — Journalism". journalism.princeton.edu. 12 September 2018. Retrieved 2021-11-16.
  10. ^ "OPC 2000 OPC Award Winners". www.opcofamerica.org. 22 April 2001. Retrieved 2016-04-29.
  11. ^ "2004 Winners". UCLA Anderson School of Management. Archived from the original on August 26, 2012 – via Internet Archive.
  12. ^ "Investigative Reporting Prize: 2010 Archived 2011-11-18 at the Wayback Machine." Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy.
  13. ^ "RTDNA - Radio Television Digital News Association". rtdna.org. Retrieved 2016-04-29.
  14. ^ "Board of Directors". The Fund for Investigative Journalism. Retrieved 2021-11-16.
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