Southern California’s most prestigious broadcast journalism prize, the Golden Mike Award, was given Saturday to “REWIRED,” an investigation by inewsource reporters Brad Racino and Jill Castellano.
A judging committee of some of the top journalists in the U.S. selected the three-part radio investigation into the use of an experimental brain treatment on a former Navy SEAL as the best medical and science reporting in the radio and podcast category. Judges described it as being “well researched, reported and written.”
“REWIRED” told the story of Johnathan Surmont and his journey to hell and back after undergoing the treatments developed by then-UC San Diego Dr. Kevin Murphy. The reporters also made public for the first time an ongoing University of California investigation into whether a $10 million gift to study the treatment had been misspent at one of America’s premier research universities.
That UC probe concluded last summer. Among its findings was that Murphy had misused university resources to promote and benefit his private companies and provided patient care without authorization. The UC system has sued Murphy, who disputes the allegations and is countersuing.
As part of this investigation, inewsource photographer and videographer Zoë Meyers is finishing work on a “REWIRED” mini-documentary. Please subscribe to our newsletter if you want to be among the first to secure tickets to a community viewing of an unforgettable story about what can happen when doctors alter the brainwaves of some of the most dangerous men on the planet.
To see the complete list of winners in the Golden Mike radio and podcast category, click here.
Looking to dive into ‘REWIRED?’
Podcast fans can listen to the three-part radio series or read the multi-part investigation.
One of our readers’ favorites is a compilation of the top 7 insights gained from Brad and Jill’s story.
