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Daily Bruin alum awarded Pulitzer Prize for local reporting with Tampa Bay Times

UCLA alumnus and former Tampa Bay Times reporter Neil Bedi received the Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting on Friday. Bedi was awarded the Pulitzer alongside fellow reporter Kathleen McGrory for their yearlong investigation into the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office’s targeting and harassment of local residents who they identified with computer software as people they believed were at risk of committing crimes. (Daily Bruin file photo)

By Constanza Montemayor

June 11, 2021 8:04 p.m.

Neil Bedi, a UCLA computer science alumnus, and fellow Tampa Bay Times reporter Kathleen McGrory were jointly awarded the Pulitzer Prize for local reporting on Friday.

Bedi, who graduated in 2015, and McGrory received the award for their yearlong investigative project, “Targeted.” The investigation explored how the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office in Florida used computer software to identify and harass local residents who they believed were at risk of committing crimes.

The investigation was conducted from 2019 to 2020 and spanned four articles covering harassment by the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office and the process by which the sheriff’s office labeled civilians – including children – as potential criminals. About 1,000 people were monitored under the sheriff’s program. 

The prize was announced virtually Friday at Columbia University in New York. The Pulitzer Prizes are awarded annually for excellence in journalism. Each year, more than 2,500 entries are submitted and around 21 receive awards.

The award marks the third Pulitzer Prize win in local reporting for the Tampa Bay Times, and its 13th Pulitzer Prize overall. McGrory and Bedi were also finalists in 2019 for the Pulitzer Prize for their investigation into surgical mistakes leading to deaths and complications at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital.

The award is also the sixth Pulitzer Prize for UCLA alumni over time. Political science alumnus and former Daily Bruin editor Robert Faturechi previously won in 2020 in the national reporting category.

Bedi is also an alumnus of the Daily Bruin, where he served as Photo editor from 2013-2014, Spectrum editor in 2013, and a senior staff photographer and reporter. He is also the founder of The Stack, the Daily Bruin’s data and tech blog, and was the Stack editor from 2014-2015.

Bedi is currently a reporter for ProPublica. 

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Constanza Montemayor | News senior staff
Montemayor is a News senior staff reporter for the Bruin. She was previously the 2022-2023 News editor, the 2021-2022 features and student life editor, a News reporter, Photo contributor for the news beat and Arts contributor. She is also a fourth-year global studies student at UCLA.
Montemayor is a News senior staff reporter for the Bruin. She was previously the 2022-2023 News editor, the 2021-2022 features and student life editor, a News reporter, Photo contributor for the news beat and Arts contributor. She is also a fourth-year global studies student at UCLA.
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