Michael J. Berens is an American

investigative reporter Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years res ...

. He won the 2012

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

for investigative reporting.

Life and career

Berens began his journalism career as a copy boy for

The Columbus Dispatch ''The Columbus Dispatch'' is a daily newspaper based in Columbus, Ohio. Its first issue was published on July 1, 1871, and it has been the only mainstream daily newspaper in the city since ''The Columbus Citizen-Journal'' ceased publication in 19 ...

in 1981 while attending

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

. In 1995, he was named a finalist for the

Pulitzer Prize for Beat Reporting The Pulitzer Prize for Beat Reporting was presented from 1991 to 2006 for a distinguished example of beat reporting characterized by sustained and knowledgeable coverage of a particular subject or activity. From 1985 to 1990 it was known as the ...

for a series "revealing inequities in the county municipal court system, including the widespread jailing of individuals too poor to pay fines for minor offenses and the release of other, more serious offenders who were able to pay." He worked at The Columbus Dispatch for 13 years. In 1994 Berens joined

The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington (s ...

. In 2012, Berens and Ken Armstrong won the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting for "their investigation of how a little known governmental body in Washington State moved vulnerable patients from safer pain-control medication to methadone, a cheaper but more dangerous drug, coverage that prompted statewide health warnings." Also while at The Seattle Times, Berens and colleagues Julia Summerfed and Carol Ostrom were finalists for the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting for "their probe of sexual misconduct by health-care professionals that included creation of an extensive online database of offenders and caused a tightening of state regulation." After 10 years at The Seattle Times, Berens joined the

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

as an investigative reporter. In 2017, he and Patricia Callahan were named finalists for the

Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting The Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting has been awarded since 1953, under one name or another, for a distinguished example of investigative reporting by an individual or team, presented as a single article or series in a U.S. news publicat ...

for a series on abuse and deaths in Illinois group homes. Berens has also received Worth Bingham Prize for Investigative Journalism, the Clark Mollenhoff Award for Investigative Reporting, the Edgar A. Poe Memorial Award, and the Gerald Loeb Award.

Awards

* 1995 Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Beat Reporting * 2007 Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting (with Julia Summerfeld and Carol Ostrom) * 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting (with Ken Armstrong) * 2017 Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting (with Patricia Callahan)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berens, Michael J. Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting winners American male journalists 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American male writers Ohio State University alumni The Seattle Times people Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Chicago Tribune people