Friends, staff and supporters of the Center for Investigative Reporting gathered in San Francisco last week at the home of board member Steve Davis and his wife, Jill, to celebrate a historic honor: the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. CIR was one of only 15 organizations in six countries to receive the award from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. In a special video, the MacArthur Award recognized the innovation, creativity and fortitude CIR has shown in growing and evolving in a time of upheaval and challenges for the news media. It also cited the role of investigative reporting “in changing the world.” 

Executive Director Robert J. Rosenthal and board Chairman Phil Bronstein spoke to the crowd about the achievement to cheers and applause. This short video captures the occasion and the mood.

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Sharon Tiller is an executive producer at The Center for Investigative Reporting. Before that, she helped develop numerous programs for "Frontline," including the four-part special “Drug Wars” and “News War,” a multi-part series on the crisis in the media industry. In 2001, she helped develop and launch the international news magazine "Frontline/World." The series featured the work of a new generation of video journalists and recently completed nine seasons on PBS. Before her work with "Frontline," Sharon was the executive director for CIR, where she developed several award-winning investigative documentaries.