Hannah Dreier Wins 2024 Michael Kelly Award for New York Times Investigation

Hannah Dreier is the winner of the 21st annual Michael Kelly Award for her series “Alone and Exploited,” published by The New York Times in 2023. Dreier’s sweeping and groundbreaking investigation into migrant child labor in the United States brought a “new economy of exploitation” to national attention.

In their commendation, the judges describe Dreier’s reporting as tenacious and impactful, and note her “sheer doggedness in uncovering this scandal.” Dreier is a Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative reporter for the Times, as well as a two-time Michael Kelly Award finalist. She will be awarded a prize of $25,000.

Given annually by The Atlantic, the Michael Kelly Award honors journalists whose work exemplifies “the fearless pursuit and expression of truth,” qualities that defined Michael Kelly’s own life and career. Kelly was the first journalist killed while covering the Iraq War, in 2003. He served as editor of The Atlantic and National Journal when both magazines were publications of Atlantic Media, chaired by David G. Bradley. Bradley created the award in Kelly’s honor.

Journalists from three other news organizations were recognized as finalists, and each will receive a $3,000 award: Georgea Kovanis and Mandi Wright, at the Detroit Free Press, for their intimate portrait of a heroin and fentanyl addict amid the opioid crisis; Philip Obaji Jr., at the Daily Beast, for his reporting on the Wagner Group’s shady operations in the Central African Republic; and a team of more than 75 journalists at The Washington Post, for their deep dive into the rise of the AR-15.

Five judges selected the winner and the finalists: Jenisha Watts, a senior editor at The Atlantic; Toby Lester, a senior editor at Harvard Business Review; James Warren, the executive editor of NewsGuard; Ena Alvarado, a writer and former assistant editor at The Atlantic; and Cullen Murphy, the editor at large of The Atlantic.

A list of the past winners and finalists, as well as remembrances of Kelly from friends and colleagues, can be found at www.michaelkellyaward.com.

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