The Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School named the Mississippi Today and The New York Times investigation “Abuse of Power: Beyond the Goon Squad” a finalist for the 2026 Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting, the center said.
The investigation was reported and written by Mukta Joshi, Jerry Mitchell, Brian Howey, Nate Rosenfeld, Steph Quinn and Sarah Cohen in collaboration with The Times’ Local Investigative Reporting desk, the center said. In 2023, the team reported that sheriff’s deputies in Rankin County, Mississippi, known as the “Goon Squad,” tortured suspected drug users — beating, burning and waterboarding victims until they shared information, the reporting said.
The reporters continued their work as the story unfolded. In 2025 they uncovered additional allegations, including a sheriff allegedly using inmate labor for personal profit, a possible jail murder that had been written off as an accident, years of brutality in the jail and a video showing guards shocking an intellectually disabled man with an electrified vest, the reporting said. The investigation also documented widespread alleged abuse of Tasers by police across the state, the outlets reported.
The Shorenstein Center said the reporting prompted a Justice Department investigation, helped lead to a new state law increasing police oversight and spurred further actions: Mississippi lawmakers proposed two statewide Taser oversight laws, state authorities opened at least three investigations, the FBI opened two probes, a murder investigation was reopened and several candidates have said they will challenge the sitting sheriff in 2027.
The center named six finalists, including work by Hanna Dreier and The New York Times staff; Alexandra Glorioso, Lawrence Mower and Justin Garcia for the Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald; a New York Times team led by Eric Lipton and David Yaffe-Bellany; Debbie Cenziper, Megan Rose and Brandon Roberts for ProPublica; and Craig Whitlock, Lisa Rein and Caitlin Gilbert for The Washington Post, the Shorenstein Center said. Finalists receive $10,000 and the winner, to be announced at an April 9 ceremony at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum, receives $25,000, the center said. “If there were any doubt about the continuing strength and impact of investigative reporting, this year’s finalists should silence the skeptics,” Shorenstein Director Nancy Gibbs said in the announcement. The ceremony will be livestreamed at GoldsmithAwards.org and ShorensteinCenter.org, the center said.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
