Caitlin Dickerson will explore the essential role of investigative journalism in the modern world
Caitlin Dickerson
Caitlin Dickerson, Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporter and staff
writer for The Atlantic, will deliver the
University of Rhode Island’s 2023 Taricani Lecture on First Amendment Rights
on Wednesday, Nov. 1. at 5 p.m.
Her lecture, titled “Digging for Truth,” will explore the role of investigative journalism in modern society and how deep research and unassailable evidence can serve as a valuable check against inequality.
The
event, which is free and open to the public, will take place in-person in the
Swan Hall auditorium, 60 Upper College Road, and will be streamed live.
Registration and livestream information can be found on the event’s website.
“In an era where misinformation and media distrust are so prevalent, the work of great investigative reporters like Caitlin Dickerson becomes even more important,” said Ammina Kothari, director of the Harrington School of Communication and Media, which co-sponsors the lecture series.
“She’s able to dig beneath rhetoric and reveal hard truths that are otherwise obscured. That kind of reporting is essential in the modern world and serves as a great example to our students.”
The Taricani lecture honors award-winning investigative reporter Jim Taricani H’18, who became a Rhode Island icon for his coverage of corruption and organized crime, his heroic stance in protecting a confidential source, and his advocacy of a federal shield law to protect journalists.
Shortly after he passed away in 2019, Taricani’s family endowed
the lecture series to honor his memory, his work, and his courageous
commitment to protect First Amendment rights.
Dickerson won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Journalism for her cover story in The Atlantic titled, “We Need to Take Away Children.” Between 2018 and 2021, the U.S. implemented a “zero-tolerance” immigration policy that resulted in thousands of children being separated from their parents.
Dickerson’s reporting
revealed that family separation was more than just an unintended side-effect of
zero tolerance, it was an integral part of the strategy. Moreover, Dickerson’s
reporting showed that officials knew that without rigorous safeguards it would
be difficult to keep track of children’s whereabouts after separation. Those
safeguards weren’t put in place, and today hundreds of children have yet to be
reunited with their parents.
In prior investigative reporting, Dickerson revealed that the U.S. government had secretly conducted race-based chemical weapons experiments on American soldiers during World War II.
Another investigation
found a pattern of sexual harassment and abuse of women employed by the Federal
Bureau of Prisons. In addition to her Pulitzer, Dickerson has won a Peabody
Award and an Edward R. Murrow Award. Before The Atlantic,
Dickerson was an investigative reporter at The New York Times and
at NPR.
Dickerson’s lecture will be the third in the Taricani
series. URI alumnus John King, chief national correspondent at CNN, delivered
the inaugural lecture. Last year’s lecture featured Neil Bedi and Kathleen
McGrory, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporters for ProPublica.