The Nellie Bly Award for Investigative Reporting
The Nellie Bly Award for Investigative Reporting was established in 2016 by the Board of Trustees of The Museum of Political Corruption to honoring distinguished journalists who have reported on corruption. The award also honors the legacy of the pioneering 19th century journalist Nellie Bly. Born Elizabeth Jane Cochran (1864-1922), Bly worked for the New York World. She is best known for exposing social and political injustice, including her chilling expose of the deplorable conditions at the psychiatric institution on Blackwell’s Island.
The specific inspiration behind the Nellie Bly Award was an episode that occurred in Bly’s career in 1888. Bly went undercover and traveled to Albany, New York posing as a lobbyist because she heard it was possible to “buy” the New York State legislature in order to have a bill killed. She met with the lobbyist Ed Phelps at the Kenmore Hotel on Pearl Street in downtown Albany. He facilitated the transaction for the price of $1,250. Bly declined to pay the sum, and returned to her paper to write about the experience in an article she entitled “King of the Lobby.”
Since Bly was offered the opportunity to “purchase” the New York State legislature for $1,250, the amount of the Nellie Bly Award honorarium has accordingly been fixed at $1,250.
The Award is announced annually on May 5th (Nellie Bly’s birthday) with an award ceremony and reception taking place in the fall.
The Museum of Political Corruption is proud to announce that Julie K. Brown, one of the best investigative journalists in the country, has been named the recipient of the 2026 Nellie Bly Award for Investigative Reporting.
During her 40-year career, she has won some of the top investigative prizes in journalism for exposing corruption and racial and human rights abuses in the nation’s criminal justice system. Her 2018 groundbreaking investigation “Perversion of Justice,” led to the arrests of sex traffickers Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell; the resignation of the U.S. secretary of labor; the first arrest of a British Royal in 400 years – and the downfall of countless other captains of industry, politics, media and academia around the world.
The ensuing scandal led to the release of millions of Justice Department files about Epstein’s sex trafficking and money laundering empire — and ignited a global reckoning about the delicate balance between power, wealth and morality.
Her effort to persuade a reluctant police chief and traumatized survivors to go on the record for the first time stands as a distinguished example of investigative reporting. She has won two George Polk Awards, a Robert F. Kennedy Award, the Columbia Journalism Award, the Hillman Prize, PEN America’s Voice of Courage Award and in 2020, she was named one of TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people.
She has frequently appeared on CNN, MSNOW, NBC News and has been profiled in The New York Times and other newspapers and magazines.
She is the author of “Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story,” which is the basis for an upcoming Sony TV limited series produced by Oscar-winning director Adam McKay.
Read entire press release here.
The Museum of Political Corruption is proud to announce that Julie K. Brown, one of the best investigative journalists in the country, has been named the recipient of the 2026 Nellie Bly Award for Investigative Reporting.
During her 40-year career, she has won some of the top investigative prizes in journalism for exposing corruption and racial and human rights abuses in the nation’s criminal justice system. Her 2018 groundbreaking investigation “Perversion of Justice,” led to the arrests of sex traffickers Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell; the resignation of the U.S. secretary of labor; the first arrest of a British Royal in 400 years – and the downfall of countless other captains of industry, politics, media and academia around the world.
The ensuing scandal led to the release of millions of Justice Department files about Epstein’s sex trafficking and money laundering empire — and ignited a global reckoning about the delicate balance between power, wealth and morality.
Her effort to persuade a reluctant police chief and traumatized survivors to go on the record for the first time stands as a distinguished example of investigative reporting. She has won two George Polk Awards, a Robert F. Kennedy Award, the Columbia Journalism Award, the Hillman Prize, PEN America’s Voice of Courage Award and in 2020, she was named one of TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people.
She has frequently appeared on CNN, MSNOW, NBC News and has been profiled in The New York Times and other newspapers and magazines.
She is the author of “Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story,” which is the basis for an upcoming Sony TV limited series produced by Oscar-winning director Adam McKay.
Read entire press release here.
Previous Winners
Susanne Craig (2017)
Jim Heaney (2019)
Jane Mayer (2020)
Alex Gibney (2021)
Jerry Mitchell (2022)
Anna Wolfe (2023)
ProPublica (2024)
Glenn Kessler (2025)
Nellie Bly Award Ceremonies and Roundtable Discussions
Your Voice Matters!
Nominations, including self-nominations, are welcome for individuals or teams. Hosted by nonprofit, nonpartisan Museum of Political Corruption, the Nellie Bly Award for Investigative Reporting recognizes extraordinary current reporting on American politics and government that exposes corruption, keeps the public informed and holds public officials accountable. Investigative reporting on all media platforms will be considered. Previous Nellie Bly Award winners: Glenn Kessler (2025); ProPublica (2024); Anna Wolfe (2023); Jerry Mitchell (2022); Alex Gibney (2021); Jane Mayer (2020); Jim Heaney (2019); Jodi Kantor & Megan Twohey (2018); and Susanne Craig (2017). Nominations are normally due by March 22nd.