Donald Leon Barlett (July 17, 1936 – October 5, 2024) was an American investigative journalist and author writing for The Inquirer, Time Inc., and Vanity Fair Magazine.

[3][5] After Penn State, Barlett served as a special agent with the U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps for three years until 1956, when he began his journalistic career as a reporter for the Reading (Pennsylvania) Times.

Nine years later he became an investigative journalist for The Plain Dealer, and later took similar jobs with The Chicago Daily News and The Philadelphia Inquirer, where he met his collaborator James B.

"[6] Barlett and Steele won their first Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting and the Gerald Loeb Special Award[7][8] in 1975 for a series called "Auditing the Internal Revenue Service" published by The Inquirer.

[14][15] In 2007, Barlett and Steele, while still working for Vanity Fair, were featured in the PBS documentary series Exposé: America's Investigative Reports in an episode entitled "Friends In High Places," which was about government contracts.

As career investigative journalists, Barlett and Steele have become well known for their teamwork,[17] "documents state of mind,"[18] consistent accuracy,[19] "replicability" for revealing their sources,[20] and ability to make their work relevant to ordinary people, such as in "America: What Went Wrong?".

Their employers, especially Gene Roberts at The Inquirer,[21] provided them with the opportunity to spend a long period of time reviewing documents in pursuit of journalism with depth and gave them the space to publish their work in lengthy articles in newspapers and magazines.

"[19] Both Pulitzer Prize Awards illustrate the auditing function of investigative journalism, whereby the press as "The Fourth Estate" watches over government.