“The $20,000 Worth Bingham Prize honors investigative reporting of stories of national significance where the public interest is being ill-served.

“These stories may involve state, local or national government, lobbyists or the press itself, wherever an “atmosphere of easy tolerance” exists, as journalist Worth Bingham himself once described public misconduct in his reporting on the nation’s capital.

“The investigative reporting may cover actual violations of the law, rule or code; lax or ineffective administration or enforcement; or activities that create conflicts of interest, entail excessive secrecy or otherwise raise questions of propriety.”