The John M. Higgins Award for Best In-Depth/Enterprise Reporting was established by the Newhouse School in December 2011 to honor the late Broadcasting & Cable business editor, who died in 2006.
Eligible work includes print, broadcast and online editorial content focusing on the development or distribution of news and entertainment.
Ceremony emcees have included Meredith Vieira (2007);[8] Andy Borowitz (2008);[9] Newhouse alumna Contessa Brewer '96 (2009);[10] Katie Couric (2010);[11] Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski (2011);[12] Anderson Cooper (2012);[13] David Muir (2013);[14] Gayle King (2014);[15] Savannah Guthrie (2015);[16] Newhouse alumnus Jeff Glor '97 (2016);[17] Jenna Bush Hager (2017);[18] Kimberly Brooks (2018);[19] Alisyn Camerota (2019);[20] Michelle Marsh (2021),[21] and Contessa Brewer (2022).
[22] 2007[23][24][25][8] Clive Thompson, New York magazine Philip Weiss, New York Magazine David Carr, The New York Times Dean Miller, Nieman Reports Andreas Kluth, The Economist HealthNewsReview.org, University of Minnesota School of Journalism and Mass Communication American Journalism Review 2008[9][26][27] Frontline, PBS The New York Times: Monday Media section Ken Auletta, The New Yorker Jeff Coplon, New York Magazine Joe Nocera, The New York Times 2009[10][28] David Carr, The New York Times David Barstow, The New York Times David Kamp, Vanity Fair Seth Mnookin, Vanity Fair Ian Parker, The New Yorker Clive Thompson, Wired.com 2010[29][30][11] Steven Johnson, TIME Megan Garber, Columbia Journalism Review Evan Osnos, The New Yorker Matt Pressman, Vanity Fair Nancy Jo Sales, Vanity Fair Dean Starkman, Columbia Journalism Review Michael Wolff, Vanity Fair 2011[31][32][12][33][34] Eric Alterman, Center for American Progress Ken Auletta, The New Yorker Jim Hopkins, Gannett Blog Joel Meares, Columbia Journalism Review Gabriel Sherman, New York Magazine Mary Van de Kamp Nohl, Milwaukee Magazine James Wolcott, Vanity Fair 2012[35][36][37][13] Adam Lashinsky, Fortune Ken Auletta, The New Yorker Anna Holmes, The New York Times & The Washington Post Peter Maass, The New Yorker & ProPublica Joe Pompeo, Capital New York Rhonda Roland Shearer and Malik Ayub Sumbal, iMediaEthics Rebecca Traister, Salon (website) and The New York Times Magazine 2013[38][39][14] Adrian Chen, Gawker Missouri Press Association Craig Silverman, Poynter Institute Syed Irfan Ashraf, Dawn, Pique Joe Eskenazi, San Francisco Weekly Ken Auletta, The New Yorker Jodi Enda, American Journalism Review 2014[40][41][15] Rachel Aviv, The New Yorker Erik Wemple, The Washington Post Brooke Gladstone, Katya Rogers, Alex Goldman, PJ Vogt, Sarah Abdurrahman, Chris Neary, On the Media Michael Specter, The New Yorker Michael Meyer, Columbia Journalism Review Jina Moore Salon (website), Columbia Journalism Review, The Atlantic Frank Greve, CQ Researcher 2015[42][43][16] Yang Xiao, Nieman Reports Benjamin Wallace, New York magazine Anna Griffin, Nieman Reports Amanda Hess, Pacific Standard Bob Garfield, Katya Rogers, On the Media Bryan Burrough, Sarah Ellison, Suzanna Andrews, Vanity Fair 2016[17][44] Peter Elkind, Fortune (magazine) Celeste LeCompte, Nieman Reports Matthew Billy, Between the Liner Notes Taffy Brodesser-Akner, GQ Frank Rich, New York (magazine) Jonathan Mahler, The New York Times Magazine 2017[45][18] Sarah Esther Maslin, Columbia Journalism Review Soraya Chemaly and Catherine Buni, The Verge Eric Alterman, The Nation Gabriel Sherman, New York (magazine) 2018[19][46] Lois Parshley, Pacific Standard Jim Rutenberg, The New York Times Magazine Jack Shafer and Tucker Doherty, Politico Amanda Robb, Center for Investigative Reporting, PRX, and Rolling Stone Irin Carmon and Amy Brittain, The Washington Post Ronan Farrow, The New Yorker Jodi Kantor, Megan Twohey, Rachel Abrams, Ellen Gabler, Susan Dominus, Jim Rutenberg and Steve Eder, The New York Times 2019[20][47][48] Jesse Brenneman and Lois Beckett, WNYC Radio and Guardian US Tim Alberta, Politico Sarah Jones, Columbia Journalism Review Davey Alba, BuzzFeed News Miles O’Brien and Cameron Hickey, for PBS NewsHour Ryan Mac, Charlie Warzel, Alex Kantrowitz, Pranav Dixit, Megha Rajagopalan, and Aisha Nazim for Facebook, BuzzFeed News Ronan Farrow, The New Yorker 2020[49][50] Jane Mayer, The New Yorker Molly Langmuir, Elle Jenni Monet, Columbia Journalism Review and the Economic Hardship Reporting Project Molly Webster and Bethel Habte, Radiolab/WNYC Margaret Sullivan, The Washington Post Brent Cunningham, Pacific Standard 2021[21][51] Lauren Markham, Columbia Journalism Review Issac J. Bailey, Nieman Reports Charles Bethea, The New Yorker Micah Loewinger, Hampton Stall, Brooke Gladstone and Katya Rogers, On the Media /WNYC Studios Lynsey Chutel, Lauren Harris, Linda Kinstler, Tony Lin, Zainab Sultan and Stephania Taladrid, Columbia Journalism Review Casey Quackenbush, Nieman Reports 2022[22] Janell Ross, TIME Jaeah Lee, Columbia Journalism Review Alexandria Neason, Columbia Journalism Review Robert Mackey, The Intercept Jen Wieczner, Fortune Sheera Frenkel and Tiffany Hsu, The New York Times The awards ceremony also includes the presentation of two special awards: the Fred Dressler Leadership Award, named for the late cable executive and former chair of the Newhouse Advisory Board, which is given to individuals or organizations that have made distinct, consistent and unique contributions to the public’s understanding of the media; and the i-3 award for impact, innovation and influence, which is given to individuals or organizations that have made a profound impact on the media landscape or have captured the public’s imagination about the potential or importance of the media in a unique way.
Recipients of the i-3 award have included Twitch (service) (2019); NPR (2018);[54] The New York Times Company (2017); Nonny de la Peña (2016); David Carr (journalist) (posthumously, 2015); Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg (2014); Nate Silver (2013); John S. and James L. Knight Foundation (2012); Newhouse alumnus Dennis Crowley ’98 and Naveen Selvadurai, co-founders of Foursquare (2011); Twitter (2010); Obama for America New Media Department/Blue State Digital (2009); and CNN/YouTube (2008).