September 15, 2025
Update 9/19/2025:
Pictured above: Professor Brant Houston, left, is honored with awardees Lea Thompson and James B. Steele (far right), with host Scott Pelley, correspondent for 60 Minutes. (Photo by Nathalie Schueller.) The Investigative Reporters and Editors 50th Anniversary Gala raised $1.5 million for
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Brant Houston, Knight Chair Professor in Investigative and Enterprise Reporting in the Department of Journalism, will be honored at the on Monday, Sept. 15, in New York City.
The event, which also serves as a fundraiser and live auction, recognizes journalists representing milestones from each decade since the organization鈥檚 founding in 1975. Co-chairs of the event are Paul Sagan, chair of ProPublica; AG Sulzberger, publisher of The New York Times; and Judy Woodruff, senior correspondent at PBS NewsHour.聽
Houston will be honored for his impact to the industry during the 1980s, for his contributions to 鈥淭he Emergence of Data and Consumer Investigations.鈥� The other honorees in his category include James B. Steele of The Philadelphia Inquirer, Time, and Vanity Fair; and Lea Thompson of NBC News and WRC-TV in Washington, D.C.
Houston served as the executive director of Investigative Reporters and Editors from 1997 to 2007.
He co-founded the in 2003 and serves as chair of its board of directors; he also co-founded the in 2009.
Houston currently oversees the online newsroom at Illinois, which serves as a lab for digital innovation and data journalism.
鈥淭hese stars of journalism, who all received training at IRE, exemplify the power and future of journalism, the very foundation of democracy,鈥� said IRE executive director Diana Fuentes.
The gala will also feature Michael Keaton, acclaimed actor, director, and press freedom advocate, accepting IRE鈥檚 first Champion of Investigative Journalism Award, recognizing his spot-on portrayal of journalists and steadfast support for a free press.
IRE, a grassroots nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of investigative reporting, was formed to create a forum in which journalists throughout the world could help each other by sharing story ideas, newsgathering techniques, and news sources.
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