Two podcasts were among the 15 winners of the 2026 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards handed out by the 84th annual Columbia Journalism School. The Silver Baton winners were selected from nearly 500 entries.
The investigative public radio show and podcast “Reveal” won a duPont award for a second consecutive year. This year the PRX-distributed show was honored for “Kids Under Fire in Gaza,” one-hour audio report that illuminates disturbing findings from U.S. doctors, following them to the halls of Congress and to the United Nations as they addressed the humanitarian crisis in the region.
Also winning a 2026 duPont-Columbia Award is New York Public Radio/WNYC New York and its sister online news site Gothamist for an episode of the “NYC Now” podcast. The episode investigated the allegations brought by more than 20 women who say a man who went by Officer “Champagne” sexually assaulted them while they were held at the Rikers Island women’s jail. But the Department of Correction says there was no one with that name who worked there during that time. The allegations span decades and they are now suing the city for more than $500 million. The award judges said the episode was “a model for how to tell the story of a system corrupted.”
This year’s duPont-Columbia Awards were announced Wednesday during a ceremony hosted by “60 Minutes” Correspondent Scott Pelley and NPR “Morning Edition” Host Michel Martin at Columbia University in New York. The awards covered content that was published between June 2024 and June 2025.
Martin said there are other, more personal rewards for content creators.
“We also remember, journalism is fun, even with all of these very serious, sometimes heartbreaking stories that we are honoring,” Martin said. “Telling stories is fun. Speaking truth to power is fun. Look, some people can go their whole working lives and never get up in the morning saying to themselves, I made a difference.”
Founded in 1942, the duPont-Columbia Awards honors winners annually for audio and video reporting, in broadcast, documentary and online. Every year about a dozen news stories and films are honored by the duPont¬-Columbia University Awards for the strength of their reporting, storytelling and impact in the public interest. The winning pieces are selected by the duPont jury from hundreds of entries vetted by a board of screeners.
See all the 2026 duPont-Columbia Award winners HERE.
Watch a replay of the ceremony HERE.