The 2018 duPont-Columbia Award Winners

The On Assignment podcast is brought to you by the Alfred I. duPont - Columbia University Awards. We announced the 16 winners in December 2017

Watch the full ceremony (held January 16th at Columbia University) at www.duPont.org.

This year's duPont-Columbia Award winners reflect the current news media landscape: a mix of both legacy journalism and emerging platforms, including several combinations of both. 

We went behind the scenes with some of the winners of this year's duPont-Columbia Awards—Listen, watch and read below to get to know them and their work! See the full list of 2018 duPont-Columbia Award winners here.

"Russia's New Scapegoats," Reveal from the Center from Investigative Reporting, Coda Story and PRX 

A Russian journalist is murdered in St. Petersburg – not for what he’s reported, but for being gay. Reveal exposes what it’s like to be gay today in Russia, where hateful rhetoric against the LGBT community appears on a daily basis on TV and in speeches by politicians. In "Russia's New Scapegoats," Reveal teamed up with Coda Story to trace the roots of the anti-gay movement in Russia and the former Soviet Union. 

Amy McKinnon, Natalia Anteleva from Coda Story and Katharine Mieszkowski from Reveal explain how they reported the story, and the security risks of reporting on homophobic and transphobic hate groups, and how they brought the story to American audiences. Reveal, Coda Story and PRX have won a 2018 duPont-Columbia Award for their episode "Russia's New Scapegoats." 

Holding Schools Accountable: "Arrested at School," NBC Bay Area

Reporters from NBC Bay Area produced a two-year long investigative series on police officers in public schools improperly disciplining students, often leaving them with criminal records. 

The investigative reporters from the NBC Bay Area team found this was a widespread problem-here's how they reported the story, and confronted the officials who enabled it. NBC Bay Area has won a 2018 duPont-Columbia Award for "Arrested At School."

Reporting on Poverty and Education in America: "AMERICA REFRAMED: Class of '27," 

In the documentary "AMERICA REFRAMED: Class of 27," filmmakers James Rutenbeck, Dustinn Craig and Nina Alvarez set out across rural America to explore the challenges of communities struggling to provide schooling for their youngest. 

Here's how the directors found those stories—and why they chose to focus their stories on education. "AMERICA REFRAMED: Class of '27" is a 2018 duPont-Columbia Award Winner.

Telling the Story of the LA Riots with Director John Ridley and ABC News Producer Jeanmarie Condon

“Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992” is a remarkable documentary that chronicles the decade before the Rodney King riots, through ABC News' extensive archive as well as intimate, revealing, and never before heard interviews with the key individuals who lived the riot, from black, white, Hispanic, Korean and Japanese American community members to police commanders, patrolmen and members of city government. 

John Ridley and ABC News Producer Jeanmarie Condon spoke at the Columbia Journalism School after a screening of their film in October. The film was announced a duPont-Columbia Award Winner in December 2017.  

HBO Real Sports, "The Lords of the Rings": Apprehended by Authorities for Reporting on Sochi Games

While reporting "The Lords of the Rings," HBO Real Sports' ambitious and searing investigation into the corruption rampant in the organization of the International Olympic Committee, Correspondent Bernard Goldberg and his production team were apprehended by Russian federal agents and interrogated for their reporting on the Sochi Games. 

Goldberg spoke to Sochi-based reporter Alexander Volov about the risks he faced reporting on the corruption around the Sochi Winter Olympics. HBO Real Sports has won a 2018 duPont-Columbia Award for "The Lords of the Rings." 

See the rest of the 2018 duPont-Columbia Awards Winners here.