Freelancers, a Cherokee and an Ozarker, win $100,000 for journalism about Native Americans and a migrant's journey

Rebecca Nagle, left, and Nancy Corteau

Freelance journalists Rebecca Nagle and Darcy Courteau are the recipients of the 2020 American Mosaic Journalism Prize, which includes an unrestricted cash prize of $100,000. It is awarded by the Heising-Simons Foundation, which said in a press release, "This is one of the largest dollar amounts given for a journalism award in the United States."

"The prize is awarded for excellence in long-form, narrative, or deep reporting about under-represented and/or misrepresented groups in the United States," the release says. "It recognizes journalism’s ability to foster understanding and aims to support freelance journalists." The foundation says it works "to advance sustainable solutions in climate and clean energy, enable groundbreaking research in science, enhance the education of our youngest learners, and support human rights for all people."

Nagle’s journalism includes the Crooked Media podcast, “This Land,” which explores Native American rights. Courteau’s work includes a June 2019 feature in The Atlantic, “Mireya’s Third Crossing,” about an undocumented immigrant’s harrowing journeys across the U.S.-Mexico border.

Nagle is a writer, audio journalist and advocate, based in Tahlequah, Okla. A citizen of the Cherokee Nation, she frequently writes about Native American issues. Courteau is a writer and photo essayist based in Washington, D.C. and the Arkansas Ozarks. "Among her enduring subjects are the outsider communities she has made home," the release says.

The prize winners are selected from confidential nominations invited from more than 100 journalism leaders around the country, the release says, by 10 journalists from organizations including The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, NPR, Vice News, The Oxford American, Columbia University and Arizona State University.