The team behind the Panama Papers investigation, which revealed thousands of examples of international tax avoidance via offshore entities, has been awarded journalism’s top honour, the Pulitzer prize for explanatory reporting, a year after the findings were first published
The judges praised the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) for its work in ‘using a collaboration of more than 300 reporters on six continents to expose the hidden infrastructure and global scale of offshore tax havens’.
The award, which includes a prize of $15,000 (£12,000) is given annually to ‘a distinguished example of explanatory reporting that illuminates a significant and complex subject, demonstrating mastery of the subject, lucid writing and clear presentation.’
Also recognised for their part in the project were McClatchy, the Miami Herald, Süddeutsche Zeitung and other media partners, which in the UK included the Guardian.
Gerard Ryle, ICIJ’s director, said: ‘This honour is a testament to the enterprise and teamwork of our staff and our partners here in the US and around the world.
‘We’re honoured that the Pulitzer board recognised the groundbreaking revelations and worldwide impact that the Panama Papers collaboration produced.’
Two German journalists, Bastian Obermayer and Frederik Obermaier, received the original leak from a confidential source. Using the information from 11.5 million documents held by Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca, starting in April 2016 the ICIJ published a series of revelations about hidden offshore accounts in Luxembourg, Switzerland, the British Virgin Islands and a host of other countries.
The consortium went on to publish a searchable database of some 214,000 offshore entities created in 21 jurisdictions, which tax authorities around the world, including HMRC, have been using to check for instances of tax avoidance.
The ICIJ said its investigation exposed offshore companies linked to more than 140 politicians in more than 50 countries – including 14 current or former world leaders. The investigative bureau said it also uncovered offshore hideaways tied to corporate bribery scandals, major banks, drug kingpins, and a network of people close to Russian President Vladimir Putin that shuffled as much as $2bn around the world.
The Pulitzer prizes, set up by US news publisher Joseph Pulitzer, are regarded as the preeminent honour in journalism. This is the 101st year that Columbia’s School of Journalism has handed out the 21 awards in different categories.
