Joint investigation from Newsy, Reveal and ProPublica nominated for National Emmy Award
Aug. 1, 2019
CINCINNATI — “Case Cleared: How Rape Goes Unpunished in America” has been nominated for a News and Documentary Emmy Award for “Outstanding Investigative Report in a Newsmagazine,” alongside CBS’ “60 Minutes,” “Fault Lines Al Jazeera International USA” and HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.”
“Case Cleared” is a collaboration between Newsy, ProPublica and Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting.
The investigation, released in 2018, uncovered how dozens of cities in America are making many rape cases look as if they are solved without actually arresting a suspected rapist. “Case Cleared” found that in those cities, exceptional clearance, a type of clearance intended to be the exception, has instead become the rule for closing rape cases.
For the project — reported by Newsy’s Mark Greenblatt and Mark Fahey; ProPublica’s Bernice Yeung; and Reveal’s Emily Harris — reporters requested data from the 100 largest police jurisdictions and analyzed more than 70,000 rape cases. Almost half of those who responded cleared more rape cases by “exceptional means” than by making an arrest.
The investigation also uncovered a major flaw in the FBI’s new system for tracking crime reports, the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). Cases classified as “unfounded,” where police either do not believe the victim or do not believe the crime occurred, are no longer tracked — erasing any trace of this practice in the FBI’s new system.
The reporting led the FBI to expedite a process to reform NIBRS rules in a way that is expected to require the nation’s police agencies to report unfounded crimes. Local police departments across the country also are looking at their processes and making changes to how sexual assault cases are cleared.
More from the “Case Cleared” project:
- Watch the videos: Case Cleared, part 1 and part 2
- Listen to the podcast: Case Cleared, part 1 and part 2
- Read the story: Rape suspects walk free. Victims don’t get justice. And police get to count it as a success
- Review the data
Recent impact:
- Texas DA Resigns From Sex Assault Task Force After Newsy Questions
- Newsy Finds NYPD Undercounting Rape By 38% Compared To FBI Statistics
- Texas House Takes New Action On Rape In Wake Of Newsy Investigation
The journalists who worked on “Case Cleared:”
Mark Greenblatt and Mark Fahey of Newsy; Bernice Yeung of ProPublica; Emily Harris of Reveal; Zach Cusson, Kenny Jacoby, Luke Piotrowski, Vik Narayan, Lawan Hamilton, and Ellen Weiss of Newsy; Robin Fields, Sophie Chou, Lena Groeger, Ryann Grochowski Jones and Sisi Wei of ProPublica; and Brett Myers, Andy Donohue, Michael Corey, Kevin Sullivan, Najib Aminy, Jim Briggs, Fernando Arruda and Kaitlin Benz from Reveal.
Winners of the 40th News and Documentary Emmy Awards will be announced Sept. 24 at a ceremony in New York. See the full list of nominees here.
About Newsy:
Newsy is leading cross-platform television news network that provides “news with the why,” built to inform and engage by delivering the top stories across every platform. Its content is available on cable; on over-the-top services including Hulu, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Sling TV, Pluto TV, and Google Chromecast; and on connected television including Xumo. Newsy is also available via its mobile apps and at newsy.com.
