Winning investigative story “Broken Shield” was also a finalist for The Center for Investigative Reporting in 2013 for the Pulitzer Prize, and won George Polk Award and IRE honors.
KQED, the public media organization that serves Northern California, and The Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) received a 2013 National Edward R. Murrow Award for Investigative Reporting, Radio Large Division, for “Broken Shield: Exposing Abuses & California’s Developmental Center” by reporters Ryan Gabrielson (CIR) and Michael Montgomery (KQED and CIR), producer Monica Lam (CIR) and editor Pat Flynn (KQED). The Murrow Awards, arbitrated by the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA), recognize work of the highest quality produced by radio, television and online news organizations around the world.
“Broken Shield” examined how California developmental centers’ police force, the Office of Protective Services (OPS), failed to protect the state’s most vulnerable residents — the severely disabled. The radio work was done when Michael Montgomery teamed with Ryan Gabrielson, who spent 18-months investigating OPS. The report on the death of a patient at the Sonoma Developmental Center illustrated the extent of the problems that extended to 850 cases of confirmed or unexplained patient abuses statewide. “Broken Shield” aired on KQED Public Radio as part of The California Report on February 24, 2012 and was picked up for national distribution by NPR. The unfolding investigation has also run on CIR’s website (cironline.org) and in broadcast and print outlets around the state of California.
About KQED
KQED serves the people of Northern California with a public-supported alternative to commercial media. Home to the most listened-to public radio station in the nation, one of the highest-rated public television services and an award-winning education program, and as a leader and innovator in interactive technology, KQED takes people of all ages on journeys of exploration — exposing them to new people, places and ideas. KQED.org
About The Center For Investigative Reporting
Investigative reporting is an essential pillar of a democratic society. For more than three decades, The Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) has relentlessly pursued and revealed injustices that otherwise would remain hidden from the public. CIR stories appear in hundreds of news outlets, including NPR News, PBS Frontline, PBS NewsHour, CNN, the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Sacramento Bee, The Daily Beast and American Public Media’s Marketplace. CIR has received numerous journalism awards, including the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Baton, George Polk Award, Emmy Award, Investigative Reporters and Editors Award, and the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. Its reports have sparked state and federal hearings and legislation, public-interest lawsuits and changes in corporate policies. For more information, please visit cironline.org.