The Guardian US has been named co-winner of an Online Journalism Award (OJA) for its collaborative work, The Pegasus Project: A global investigation, an in-depth examination of actions taken by the Israeli surveillance company NSO Group. The win, shared with the Washington Post and Forbidden Stories, was announced during last week’s Online News Association (ONA) 2022 conference.
The project won the Al Neuharth Innovation in Investigative Journalism Award in the Large Newsroom category, described by ONA as “honoring a single or a series of stories that uncover major news based on the reporters’ own investigations that advance and serve the public interest.”
Through The Pegasus Project, The Guardian and 16 media partners led by the Paris-based journalism nonprofit Forbidden Stories, uncovered that human rights activists, journalists and lawyers across the world have been targeted by authoritarian governments using hacking software sold by NSO Group; the analysis suggested widespread and continuing abuse of Pegasus, NSO’s hacking spyware, which the company insists is only intended for use against criminals and terrorists.
The reporting came out of leaked data accessed by nonprofit Forbidden Stories and human rights group Amnesty International, which was then shared with a consortium of news organizations worldwide.
Presenting the award, judges commented that the “global investigation shows the power of collaboration between NGOs and media to uncover the practices that affect the people who are often under threat by powerful governments. The presentation is simple and impactful. It’s a significant collaborative achievement using fresh technological techniques.”
The Guardian was a finalist in two additional OJA categories: Explanatory Reporting, Large Newsroom for their Gerrymandering coverage and Topical Reporting: Climate Change for their project The Climate Disaster is Here.
Finalists and winners were honored on Saturday, September 24th during ONA’s Online Journalism Awards Banquet and Ceremony. The full list of finalists and winners can be found here.
Earlier this year, The Guardian was also recognized as joint winner of a George Polk Award for The Pegasus Project.
