The Diederich College of Communication and the O’Brien Fellowship in Public Service Journalism welcome Washington Post reporters Sari Horwitz and Scott Higham to discuss their series, “The Opioid Files,” which explores unknown aspects of this tragically familiar topic.

Pulling Back the Curtain: The Hidden Story of a Nation’s Opioid Epidemic

A finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service and winner of Marquette’s O’Brien Fellowship journalism award, this groundbreaking, data-driven reporting used previously hidden government records, and confidential company documents, to provide unprecedented insight into America’s deadly opioid epidemic. The records, and meticulous reporting, showed the full scope of the crisis, and revealed which manufacturers benefited from an overwhelming dependency throughout the country.

The annual Burleigh Media Ethics Lecture addresses topical and moral issues facing the world today.