Craig Welch and Steve Ringman have won the 2014 Hillman Prize for Web Journalism for “Sea Change: The Pacific’s Perilous Turn,” published by the Seattle Times and supported by the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting. 

The pair travelled the world to document the toll of ocean acidifcation, a little known but devastating side effect of climate change that threatens coral reefs, fisheries, jobs, and food supplies worldwide.

Welch’s elegant science writing and Ringman’s arresting photos depict what acidifcation has already done to the Pacific and point to an even more dismal future if action is not taken. Their reporting was enriched by innovative web-based features and social media outreach. 

To report a story that is taking place largely underwater, Welch and Ringman became certified scuba divers, despite having no prior diving experience. 

Welch has been covering the environment for the Seattle Times for 14 years, garnering several journalism awards. He is the author of the book Shell Games. Ringman is a 20-year veteran of the Times. His award-winning coverage of the renewal of the Elwa River became part of the book Elwa: A River Reborn.  

This is another in a series of profiles of the winners of the 2014 Hillman Prizes. These prizes honor journalism in service of the common good. Follow us on twitter at @sidneyhillman, Craig Welch at @CraigAWelch, and Steve Ringman at @sringman. Use the twitter hashtag #Hillman2014 to find out the latest buzz on the Hillman Prizes , including our upcoming awards ceremony on May 6 at the New York Times Center. Use #Hillman2014 to tag your tweets about the Hillman Prizes. We want to hear from you!

Pat Beall is the winner of the 2014 Hillman Prize for Newspaper Journalism for her coverage of prision privatization for the Palm Beach Post. Beall compiled 13 years of national data on private prisons, documenting a decade’s worth of squalor, violence and abuse that stemmed from a pattern of hiring too few guards or guards with little experience. Some guards came to the job with criminal histories; others committed crimes while still on the job. The Post’s comprehensive list of major prisoner abuse, published online as an interactive map, is the only one of its kind.

Beall’s 8-month investigation exposed the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council as a major proponent of prison privatization. She also discovered that, despite what the public had been told, privatization wasn’t saving taxpayer money. 

Beall is an investigative reporter with the Palm Beach Post. Prior to joining the Post, she was the editor of the Orlando Business Journal, which racked up over 300 journalism awards under her leadership. 

This is another in a series of profiles of the winners of the 2014 Hillman Prizes. These prizes honor journalism in service of the common good.

Follow us on twitter at @sidneyhillman and Pat Beall at @patbeall1. 

Use the twitter hashtag #Hillman2014 to find out the latest buzz on the Hillman Prizes and the upcoming awards ceremony on May 6 at the New York Times Center. Use #Hillman2014 to tag your tweets about the Hillman Prizes. We want to hear from you!

In his Hillman Prize-winning book, Fear Itself, Ira Katznelson argues that the New Deal was a deal with various devils. In order to save America’s foundering democracy–and usher in the progressive reforms of the New Deal–Franklin Roosevelt had to ally himself with various anti-democratic factions including the racists of the Jim Crow South.

The South was adamant that the New Deal could not threaten segregation, and Roosevelt played along, allowing the South to effectively shut its black citizens out of the benefits of the New Deal. Fear Itself forces us to confront the hidden history of racism at the heart of one of the most beloved progressive initiatives in U.S. history. 

Writing in the New York Times, Kevin Boyle praised the book’s thesis as a “powerful argument, swept along by Katznelson’s robust prose and the imposing scholarship that lies behind it.”

Katznelson is Columbia University’s Ruggles Professor of Political Science and History and the author of When Affirmative Action Was White. 

We are very proud to honor Katznelson with this year’s Hillman Prize for Book Journalism. 

Tomorrow, we will announce the winners of the 2014 Hillman Prizes. Stay tuned to learn all about this year’s crop of outstanding journalists.