Pulitzer Center Update September 27, 2024
Podcast Exposes Lack of Accountability for the Haditha Massacre
Country:
An investigation into the killings of 24 Iraqi civilians by U.S. Marines resulted in no prison time.
A War Crime That Went Unpunished
On November 19, 2005, a roadside bomb killed a U.S. Marine in the town of Haditha, Iraq. Fellow Marines retaliated on the spot by executing 24 Iraqi civilians—men, women, and children who had nothing to do with the bombing. The oldest victim was a 76-year-old grandfather; the youngest a 3-year-old girl. It was a war crime, plain and simple. It was exposed by the media and condemned by then-President George W. Bush, who promised a full investigation into what became known as the Haditha massacre.
The investigation was thorough and left little doubt as to the culpability of the Marines, four of whom were charged with murder. But none of the Marines saw any jail time, and only one, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, pleaded guilty to a crime—negligent dereliction of duty—for which he received a three-month suspended sentence and a pay cut. “Essentially a parking ticket,” according to his lawyer.
Season three of In the Dark, The New Yorker’s investigative podcast series, reconstructs the crime and examines the culture of a profoundly flawed military justice system that is “deferential to defendants and disbelieving of victims.” Pulitzer Center grantee Madeleine Baran’s nine-part series, more than four years in the making, is an example of investigative journalism at its finest. Baran and her team of researchers and reporters interviewed nearly a hundred witnesses and experts in the U.S. and Iraq; they filed multiple lawsuits to obtain public records, transcripts, and photographs that the military fought to conceal; they knocked on doors.
In addition to the podcast, Baran’s team also produced an online database that demonstrates how the military justice system consistently fails to apply any measure of accountability to members of the armed forces who commit war crimes. Listeners' response to The New Yorker’s podcast project has been gratifying.
“Kudos to the entire team for this outstanding work,” wrote one. “It should be required listening for anyone who cares about human decency, integrity, persistence, and responsibility in investigative journalism.”
Best,
Impact
In the Name of Wellness, a Pulitzer Center-supported project by Karl Mancini, has won first place in the 2024 Food Visions contest, Mancini told the Center. The Italian photography competition explores food topics, including sustainability. Mancini’s project uncovers the human and environmental cost of superfood monocultures and their relationship to environmental colonialism and climate change in South America.
The award ceremony will take place on September 29, 2024, in Parma, Italy, where Mancini’s photography will be featured in an exhibition. He will also speak about his project.
In a message to the Pulitzer Center, Mancini called the award “an excellent opportunity to further spread the theme and give visibility with this also to the collaboration with the Pulitzer Center that helped me in the production of this phase of the project.”
See the Photo of the Week, by Mancini, below.
Photo of the Week
This message first appeared in the September 27, 2024, edition of the Pulitzer Center's weekly newsletter. Subscribe today.
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