Raw Story investigative reporter Alexandria Jacobson today won first prize in the 2023 ION Awards contest for her series of exclusive reports about members of Congress violating a federal law designed to stop insider trading, curb financial conflicts of interest and enhance public transparency.
Jacobson is the lead reporter on Raw Story's "Lawmakers, Law Breakers" project, which this year has outed two-dozen members of Congress as violators of the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act — a law Congress itself passed in 2012 to govern public officials' personal financial activity.
Jacobson discovered scofflaw Republicans and Democrats alike, including some of Congress' most powerful members.
Judges for the ION Awards, which honors "superior, exceptional original or investigative reporting; particularly that which is off the typical news narrative," described Jacobson's reporting as "fair, bold, specific and thoroughly documented."
"Lawmakers, Law Breakers' used data journalism, document analysis and shoe-leather reporting to prove that among members of Congress, financial conflicts of interest run rampant and all but unchecked… [and] numerous members of Congress are violating the very law they passed to temper their own behavior with little, if any, legal consequence," ION Awards judges wrote. "For example, the investigation examined congressional financial documents and found both Democrats and Republicans violating the Congressional STOCK Act by failing to disclose transactions within a 45-day deadline. Amazingly, violators include some members of Congress who helped write and pass the STOCK Act."
The ION Award comes with a $2,000 prize.
"Our legislators make decisions that determine the strength of our economy and what companies get billions of dollars in federal funding," Jacobson said after winning her ION Award. "In order to bolster public trust, it’s important that they are transparent and prompt in disclosing their personal financial transactions so journalists and concerned citizens alike can be watchdogs to make sure lawmakers aren’t using non-public knowledge to make decisions that benefit themselves personally. That’s why I will continue to tirelessly investigate members of Congress’s personal financial reports — after all, our lawmakers should be law abiding, too."
Raw Story Editor-in-Chief Dave Levinthal praised Jacobson's "must-read" work since joining Raw Story in April.
"Alex is as diligent, dedicated and resourceful an investigative journalist as you'll find," he said. "Her ION Award is a testament to the relentlessness of her reporting and commitment to unearthing truths that powerful elected officials often would rather keep buried."
Read all of Jacobson's work — including her award-winning reports — here.
