A project by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting that exposed forced labor in the heart of the United States has been named a finalist for the 2018 Selden Ring Award for Investigative Reporting.

The award, which is given to the finest high-impact journalism annually, is handed out by the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and comes with a $50,000 prize. Two Seattle Times journalists won the top award for Quantity of Care, a series uncovering poor patient care at a growing neuroscience institute.

In All Work. No Pay., Reveal reporters Amy Julia Harris and Shoshana Walter “uncovered a form of modern-day slavery masquerading as a criminal justice reform – and benefiting companies with household names,” according to the Selden Ring judges.

The project, which debuted in October, delved into rehabilitation programs offered by judges as an alternative to prison, finding that in lieu of rehab, defendants were required to work for free. It has driven companies to stop using the forced labor and led to a number of pending government investigations and four class-action lawsuits.

The New York Times was the other finalist for its investigations into sexual harassment and abuse.

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