The New York Times Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Malachy Browne has delivered an inspiring webinar to the University of Limerick journalism students and campus staff.
The Limerick journalist is a Senior Producer in Visual Investigations at the New York Times – a unit that he co-founded in 2017.
Mr Browne, from Broadford, Co Limerick, won the highest accolade in journalism – the Pulitzer Prize – in 2020 for the sometimes “risky” work, that he and his team carried out in proving for the first time that Russia had bombed Syrian hospitals and civilians.
And his team has recently published a series of reports on the riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Mr Browne said: “Our work combines traditional reporting with digital sleuthing and the forensic analysis of videos and images to find truth, hold power to account and to deconstruct significant news events.”
In his UL webinar this Wednesday entitled: ‘Visual Investigations: Innovation in Truth Telling’, Mr Browne said that the team comprises open source reporters, story producers, video editors and animators, along with copy editors and audience development editors.
Mr Browne has also led investigations into:
- The killing of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and other Black citizens
- The Las Vegas mass shooting, chemical attacks in Syria and extra-judicial military killings in Nigeria.
- His team was first to name the Saudi officials who murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi. And it was also the first team to reveal how Iran's military shot down a passenger plane in Tehran
UL Senior Lecturer in Journalism Mary Dundon who moderated the webinar said: “We are delighted to have such a distinguished journalist address our students.
“Mr Browne’s work has been cited in murder trials, congressional hearings and UN Security Council meetings. It has also triggered government inquiries and policing reforms, and has led to the suspension of weapons sales to Saudi Arabia.”
Mr Browne’s work has also been recognised with two News and Documentary Emmy Awards; A George Polk award;;three Overseas Press Club of America Awards and Investigative Reporters and Editors Award.
Before joining the New York Times, Mr Browne worked for two social media start- ups, Storyful and Reported.ly, and with Village Magazine in Dublin.