Laura Sullivan
Encyclopedia
Laura Sullivan is a correspondent
and investigative reporter for National Public Radio. She has worked there since 2004. She covers crime, punishment and prisons for Morning Edition
, All Things Considered
, Talk of the Nation
and other NPR
programs.
Sullivan's work specializes in shedding light on some of the country's most disadvantaged people. She is one of NPR's most decorated journalists, with two Peabody Awards two Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards, and more than a dozen other prestigious national awards..
In 2011, Sullivan's three part series Bonding For Profit: Behind the Bail Bond System examined the deep and costly flaws of bail bonding in the United States. In addition to her second Peabody and duPont, the series was also honored by the Scripps Howard Foundation
, the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University
's John F. Kennedy School of Government and the American Bar Association
.
Also in 2011, Sullivan won her second commendation from Investigative Reporters and Editors
for her two-part series examining the origin of the Arizona SB 1070 immigration law.
In 2008, her series "36 Years of Solitary: Murder, Death and Justice on Angola" earned Sullivan her first Peabody, an Investigative Reporters and Editors award, and a Robert F. Kennedy award for investigative reporting. Her 2007 news series investigating sexual assault
of Native American
women won a duPont.. It also won the DART Award for Excellence in coverage of Trauma
for outstanding reporting and RTNDA Edward R Murrow Award for Investigative Reporting
. The series also brought her a second Gracie Award for American Women in Radio and Television. The first was for her "Life in Solitary Confinement" for which she also won the 2007 Daniel Schorr
Journalism Prize.
Before coming to NPR
in 2004, Sullivan covered the United States Department of Justice
, the FBI, and terrorism
from the Baltimore Sun's Washington DC bureau
. In 1996, Sullivan and two other Medill School of Journalism
seniors expanded a class assignment that ultimately freed four men (Ford Heights Four) who had been wrongfully convicted of a 1978 murder
in Chicago's South Side; two were death-row inmates. The case was one of several that led to a moratorium on capital punishment
in Illinois
. The project won a special citation from Investigative Reporters and Editors and other awards.
Correspondent
A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is a journalist or commentator, or more general speaking, an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, location. A foreign correspondent is stationed in a foreign...
and investigative reporter for National Public Radio. She has worked there since 2004. She covers crime, punishment and prisons for Morning Edition
Morning Edition
Morning Edition is an American radio news program produced and distributed by National Public Radio . It airs weekday mornings and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 05:00 to 09:00 ET, with feeds and updates as required until noon...
, All Things Considered
All Things Considered
All Things Considered is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio. It was the first news program on NPR, and is broadcast live worldwide through several outlets...
, Talk of the Nation
Talk of the Nation
Talk of the Nation is a talk radio program based in the United States, produced by National Public Radio, and is broadcast nationally from 2 to 4 p.m. Eastern Time. Its focus is current events and controversial issues....
and other NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
programs.
Sullivan's work specializes in shedding light on some of the country's most disadvantaged people. She is one of NPR's most decorated journalists, with two Peabody Awards two Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards, and more than a dozen other prestigious national awards..
In 2011, Sullivan's three part series Bonding For Profit: Behind the Bail Bond System examined the deep and costly flaws of bail bonding in the United States. In addition to her second Peabody and duPont, the series was also honored by the Scripps Howard Foundation
Scripps Howard Foundation
The Scripps Howard Foundation is the corporate foundation of the E. W. Scripps Company, an American media conglomerate which owns newspapers, television stations, cable television networks, and other media outlets...
, the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
's John F. Kennedy School of Government and the American Bar Association
American Bar Association
The American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...
.
Also in 2011, Sullivan won her second commendation from Investigative Reporters and Editors
Investigative Reporters and Editors
Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that focuses on the quality of investigative reporting. Formed in 1975, it presents the IRE Awards and holds conferences and training classes for journalists. Its headquarters is in Columbia, Missouri, at the University of...
for her two-part series examining the origin of the Arizona SB 1070 immigration law.
In 2008, her series "36 Years of Solitary: Murder, Death and Justice on Angola" earned Sullivan her first Peabody, an Investigative Reporters and Editors award, and a Robert F. Kennedy award for investigative reporting. Her 2007 news series investigating sexual assault
Sexual assault
Sexual assault is an assault of a sexual nature on another person, or any sexual act committed without consent. Although sexual assaults most frequently are by a man on a woman, it may involve any combination of two or more men, women and children....
of Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
women won a duPont.. It also won the DART Award for Excellence in coverage of Trauma
Psychological trauma
Psychological trauma is a type of damage to the psyche that occurs as a result of a traumatic event...
for outstanding reporting and RTNDA Edward R Murrow Award for Investigative Reporting
Edward R. Murrow Award
The Edward R. Murrow Awards are presented by the Radio-Television News Directors Association in recognition of what the Association terms "outstanding achievements in electronic journalism."-Judging:...
. The series also brought her a second Gracie Award for American Women in Radio and Television. The first was for her "Life in Solitary Confinement" for which she also won the 2007 Daniel Schorr
Daniel Schorr
Daniel Louis Schorr was an American journalist who covered world news for more than 60 years. He was most recently a Senior News Analyst for National Public Radio...
Journalism Prize.
Before coming to NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
in 2004, Sullivan covered the United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
, the FBI, and terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
from the Baltimore Sun's Washington DC bureau
News bureau
A News bureau is an office for gathering or distributing news. Similar terms are used for specialized bureaus, often to indicate geographic location or scope of coverage: a ‘Tokyo bureau’ refers to a given news operation's office in Tokyo; foreign bureau is a generic term for a news office set up...
. In 1996, Sullivan and two other Medill School of Journalism
Medill School of Journalism
The Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications is a constituent school of Northwestern University which offers both undergraduate and graduate programs. It has consistently been one of the top-ranked schools in Journalism in the United States...
seniors expanded a class assignment that ultimately freed four men (Ford Heights Four) who had been wrongfully convicted of a 1978 murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
in Chicago's South Side; two were death-row inmates. The case was one of several that led to a moratorium on capital punishment
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
in Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. The project won a special citation from Investigative Reporters and Editors and other awards.