The Outlaw Ocean Project Wins an Emmy

We do this journalism not to win awards but to highlight problems in a way that helps fix them. However, awards ensure that editors and the public take our reporting seriously.

Last night we won an Emmy Award for the Libya documentary film that Ed Ou and Will Miller made with us. 

We won in the category of Outstanding Crime and Justice Coverage. The reporting focused on human rights abuses happening with EU support on the Mediterranean Sea. 

To ensure this reporting was seen globally, we published the film in various versions with dozens of partners around the world, including Globonews in Brazil, NBC in the US, El Pais in Spain, and The Guardian in the UK. 

The news of this award is especially satisfying because we are a tiny shop: a mere 8 full-time and tireless staff, with our video efforts spearheaded by the ever-talented Raphaela Morais. This mighty little squad is producing and disseminating content in daring new ways that have real impact and reach.

Proof positive: just 12 hours before the Emmy announcement, an editor at the New Yorker posted on Twitter the news that The Outlaw Ocean Project won the Al Neuharth Innovation in Investigative Journalism Award from the Online News Association for the amazing collaboration with the New Yorker Magazine (hat tip to our very own, Stephan Foxwell for his incredible presentation of all the Libya reporting).

And a day before the innovation prize, we launched a 7-part podcast series (partnering with the LA Times and CBC) which climbed within 48 hours to become the 3rd most popular podcast in Canada and is presently also scaling the charts in the US.

Sorry to brag. But, wow. What a week!

These are huge honors and, hopefully, they help our mighty non-profit news organization in terms of funding and in terms of news outlets eager to publish our reporting. 

If you want to watch the film you can do so here: