The MOLLY National Journalism Prize is awarded annually by the Texas Democracy Foundation dba ''

The Texas Observer ''The Texas Observer'' (also known as the ''Observer'') is an American magazine with a liberal political outlook. The ''Observer'' is published bimonthly by a 501(c)(3)Molly Ivins Mary Tyler "Molly" Ivins (August 30, 1944 – January 31, 2007) was an American newspaper columnist, author, political commentator, and humorist. Born in California and raised in Texas, Ivins attended Smith College and the Columbia Univers ...

Description

The award, presented annually since 2008, is given for an article or series of up to four short, related articles or columns telling the stories that need telling, challenging conventional wisdom, focusing on civil liberties and/or social justice, and embodying the intelligence, deep thinking and/or passionate wit that marked Ivin's work. The MOLLY Prize and two Honorable Mentions are then presented at an awards dinner, generally in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

, keynoted by a special guest. The prize is a $5,000 award and two Honorable Mentions who receive $1,000 each. Past keynote speakers have included

Dan Rather Daniel Irvin Rather Jr. (; born October 31, 1931) is an American journalist, commentator, and former national evening news anchor. Rather began his career in Texas, becoming a national name after his reporting saved thousands of lives during Hurr ...

Ellen Goodman Ellen Goodman (née Holtz; born April 11, 1941) is an American journalist and syndicated columnist. She won a Pulitzer Prize in 1980. She is also a speaker and commentator. Career Goodman's career began as a researcher and reporter for ''Newsweek ...

Paul Krugman Paul Robin Krugman ( ; born February 28, 1953) is an American economist, who is Distinguished Professor of Economics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and a columnist for ''The New York Times''. In 2008, Krugman was th ...

Seymour Hersh Seymour Myron "Sy" Hersh (born April 8, 1937) is an American investigative journalist and political writer. Hersh first gained recognition in 1969 for exposing the My Lai Massacre and its cover-up during the Vietnam War, for which he received t ...

, John Quiñones, and

Gail Collins Gail Collins (born November 25, 1945) is an American journalist, op-ed columnist and author, most recognized for her work with ''The New York Times''.

. The deadline for entries from the previous calendar year is typically in March and the submissions are screened by journalists from the Board of Advisors, which governs the conducting of the award. Finalists and winners are determined by an annually selected Executive Committee of the Board of Advisors. The 2013 MOLLY National Journalism Prize was awarded to

Sarah Stillman Sarah Stillman is an American professor and journalist focusing on immigration policy and the criminal justice system. She won a 2012 George Polk Award, and 2012 Hillman Prize. In 2016, she was named a MacArthur Fellow. Life Stillman graduated f ...

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

for her article “The Throwaways,” which addresses the use and abuse of juvenile drug offenders as confidential informants by law enforcement officers.

2014 Board of Advisors

Hugh Aynesworth Hugh Grant Aynesworth (; born August 2, 1931) is an American journalist, investigative reporter, author, and teacher. Aynesworth has been reported to have witnessed the assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dealey Plaza, the capture and arrest of ...

, Maurine H. Beasley, Tom Bettag, Mike Blackman, Frederick Blevens,

Roy Blount, Jr. Roy Alton Blount Jr. (; born October 4, 1941) is an American writer, speaker, reporter, and humorist. Life and career Blount was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, and grew up in Decatur, Georgia. He attended Ponce de Leon Elementary School and g ...

, Mary Breasted,

Robert Bryce Robert Broughton Bryce, , (February 27, 1910 July 30, 1997) was a Canadian civil servant. Biography After graduating with engineering degree from the University of Toronto, Bryce undertook graduate studies in economics at University of Cambridg ...

, Ken Bunting, Wanda Cash, Carlton Carl, Mike Cochran,

Gail Collins Gail Collins (born November 25, 1945) is an American journalist, op-ed columnist and author, most recognized for her work with ''The New York Times''.

, Patrick Cox, Greg Curtis, Joe Cutbirth, Lou Dubose,

Ronnie Dugger Ronnie Dugger (born 1931) is an American progressive journalist. Dugger attended UT and was editor of The Daily Texan 1950–1951. He was the founding editor of The Texas Observer from 1954 to 1961. Later he served as the Observer's publisher, ...

, Margaret Engel,

James Fallows James Mackenzie Fallows (born August 2, 1949) is an American writer and journalist. He is a former national correspondent for ''The Atlantic.'' His work has also appeared in ''Slate'', ''The New York Times Magazine'', ''The New York Review of Book ...

, Doug Foster,

, Wade Goodwyn, Patti Kilday Hart, Jim Henderson, Steven Isenberg, Melissa Jones, Lewis Lapham,

Myra MacPherson Myra MacPherson (born 1934) is an American author, biographer, and journalist known for writing about politics, the Vietnam War, feminism, and death and dying. Although her work has appeared in many publications, she had a long affiliation with ...

, David McHam, Dave McNeely,

Kevin Merida Kevin Merida (born January 17, 1957) is an American journalist, author and newspaper editor. He currently serves as executive editor at the Los Angeles Times, where he oversees and coordinates all news gathering operations, including city and nat ...

, Judith Davidson Moyers,

Victor Navasky Victor Saul Navasky (born July 5, 1932) is an American journalist, editor and academic. He is publisher emeritus of ''The Nation'' and George T. Delacorte Professor Emeritus of Professional Practice in Magazine Journalism at Columbia University. H ...

, Kaye Northcott, Larry Norwood, Karen Olsson, John Pope,

, Matt Rothschild,

Ben Sargent Ben Sargent (born November 26, 1948) is a retired American editorial cartoonist. He began drawing editorial cartoons for the '' Austin American-Statesman'' in 1974 and retired in 2009. His cartoons are also distributed nationally by Universal P ...

Connie Schultz Connie Schultz (born July 21, 1957) is an American writer and journalist. Schultz is a nationally syndicated columnist for Creators Syndicate. She worked at ''The Cleveland Plain Dealer'' newspaper from 1993 to 2011. She won the 2005 Pulitzer Pri ...

Robert Siegel Robert Charles Siegel (born June 26, 1947) is an American retired radio journalist. He was one of the co-hosts of the National Public Radio evening news broadcast ''All Things Considered'' from 1987 until his retirement in January 2018. Early ...

, Erna Smith, Glenn Smith, Paul Stekler, Carlton Stowers, Diane Suchetka, Ellen Sweets, Mimi Swartz, Saralee Tiede, Rusty Todd,

Calvin Trillin Calvin Marshall Trillin (born 5 December 1935) is an American journalist, humorist, food writer, poet, memoirist and novelist. He is a winner of the Thurber Prize for American Humor (2012) and an elected member of the American Academy of Arts an ...

, Jim Willse and John Young.

Winners

2019:

Hannah Dreier Hannah Dreier is an American journalist. She is a ''New York Times'' reporter who specializes in narrative features and investigations. She previously worked at ProPublica, where she was the recipient of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writin ...

ProPublica ProPublica (), legally Pro Publica, Inc., is a nonprofit organization based in New York City. In 2010, it became the first online news source to win a Pulitzer Prize, for a piece written by one of its journalists''The Guardian'', April 13, 2010P ...

2018: Michael Grabell & Howard Berkes,

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

2017:

Shane Bauer Shane Bauer is an American journalist, best known for his undercover reporting for ''Mother Jones'' magazine. He has won several awards including the Harvard's Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting and the National Magazine Award for Best ...

, ''

Mother Jones Mary G. Harris Jones (1837 (baptized) – November 30, 1930), known as Mother Jones from 1897 onwards, was an Irish-born American schoolteacher and dressmaker who became a prominent union organizer, community organizer, and activist. She h ...

'' 2016: Joseph Neff, ''

The News & Observer ''The News & Observer'' is an American regional daily newspaper that serves the greater Triangle area based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The paper is the largest in circulation in the state (second is the '' Charlotte Observer''). The paper has be ...

'' 2015: Esther Kaplan, the ''

Virginia Quarterly Review The ''Virginia Quarterly Review'' is a quarterly literary magazine that was established in 1925 by James Southall Wilson, at the request of University of Virginia president E. A. Alderman. This ''"National Journal of Literature and Discussion"'' ...

'' 2014: Dave Philipps, ''

The Gazette The Gazette (stylized as the GazettE), formerly known as , is a Japanese visual kei Rock music, rock band, formed in Kanagawa Prefecture, Kanagawa in early 2002.''Shoxx'' Vol 106 June 2007 pg 40-45 The band is currently signed to Sony Music Recor ...

'' 2013:

, ''

'' 2012:

Trevor Aaronson Trevor Aaronson is an American journalist. He is a contributing writer at The Intercept and author of ''The Terror Factory: Inside the FBI's Manufactured War on Terrorism''. He was a 2020 ASU Future Security Fellow at New America and a 2015 TED ...

, ''

'' 2011: Jeff Sharlet, ''

Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. (''Scientific American'' is older, b ...

'' 2010: A.C. Thompson,

2009: Rick Casey, ''

The Houston Chronicle ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

'' 2008: Diane Suchetka, ''

The Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. In fall 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily and 15th on Sunday. As of Ma ...

External links

"The Throwaways," 2013 winning story

2013 Press Release for Sarah Stillman

"The Informants," 2012 winning story

2012 Press Release for Trevor Aaronson

2011 Press Release for Jeff Sharlet

The Texas Observer

References

{{reflist American journalism awards