Investigative Reporters & Editors, the nation’s most prominent investigative journalism organization, announced Wednesday that a joint investigation by WLRN and the Miami Herald into the systemic failures that made Florida’s Brightline the deadliest major passenger train in the nation won its top award for statewide coverage.
The IRE award announcement comes only days after the Brightline stories were named as finalists for the 2026 Pulitzer Prize. The two media outlets were among four finalists for the Pulitzer Prize under Local Reporting announced Monday.
The Miami Herald and WLRN’s series of stories last year into Brightline’s astonishing fatality rates was impactful, immediately triggering the release of $42 million to improve safety along the tracks and challenging the narrative the victims were to blame, and nothing could be done.
The “Killer Train” investigation revealed that Brightline — a privately operated, higher-speed train promoted as a model for the future of American rail — has become the deadliest major passenger train in the United States. Since 2017, nearly 200 people have been killed by Brightline trains. That’s an average of one death every 13 days of service.
The team’s reporting proved false the widely accepted Brightline narrative that most of the dead were suicidal, or were drivers evading downed gates. Through a deep, original analysis of federal data for every railroad in the country, the Herald and WLRN shed light on multiple factors that make Brightline uniquely dangerous. They also found that, despite the death toll — and partly because of it — nearly $500 million in taxpayer funding has gone toward Brightline, undermining the company’s promise to be entirely privately funded. At the same time, critical safety measures have been delayed for years.
The Tampa Bay Times was also named as a statewide award winner by IRE for “Undocumented workers built Florida’s roads — and died in the process.” Reported and written by Emily L. Mahoney and Langston Taylor, it revealed how Archer Western, one of Florida’s top road contractors, was allowed to keep working for the state despite a horrific record of deaths and serious injuries among its non-union and heavily undocumented workforce.
“Being named as a Pulitzer Prize finalist and winning a top IRE award in the same week is a tribute to the hard work and dedication of the team of reporters here at WLRN and our partners at the Miami Herald,” said WLRN Vice President of News Sergio Bustos, who oversees the three-person investigations team at the South Florida NPR affiliate.
“At a time when the media business, especially public media, is so threatened with funding cutbacks, these awards should remind everyone that journalists in South Florida remain undaunted in the pursuit of the truth,” said Bustos, who is a former Miami Herald editor.
“We are so very proud of our staff and so thankful to the thousands of WLRN donors who believe in our journalistic mission,” he added.
IRE Contest Committee Chair Walter Smith Randolph said this year’s contest “shows just how vital investigative journalism is here at home and around the globe” at a time when newsrooms are shrinking and threats to press freedom are growing.
“We must stay dedicated to holding the powerful accountable and exposing wrongdoing, and that’s exactly what our winners and finalists did through their reporting over the past year,” said Smith Randolph in a statement.
The annual contest showcases the best work by members of Investigative Reporters and Editors from the past year. Awards will be presented at the 2026 IRE Conference in National Harbor on Friday, June 19, during the Awards Luncheon.
