The Daily Wire received four nominations for the 2026 Dao Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism, more than any other outlet nominated this year.
Jennie Taer is nominated for Best Multimedia Reporting for her on-the-ground coverage of ICE operations in Minneapolis. Megan Brock is nominated for Best Overall Reporting for her exposé on the Biden-Harris administration’s secret plan to turbocharge trans policy if she’d won in 2024.
And Luke Rosiak, who won the 2025 Dao Prize for Excellence in DOGE Reporting, was nominated in two categories — Best Overall Reporting and the Daylight Award for fraud reporting — for his “Medicaid Millions” series.
The Dao Feng and Angela Foundation and the National Journalism Center jointly award the Dao Prizes to “celebrate reporters who advance the public interest through robust investigative work.” The Best Overall Reporting winner receives a $100,000 prize, two runners-ups in that category and the winners of the local and multimedia categories receive $10,000 each, and the Daylight Award winner receives $30,000.
To get the inside scoop on ICE, Jennie joined agents for ride-alongs and spent days at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, filming long TSA lines that ICE agents were dispatched to relieve during the longest-ever government shutdown. Her stories and videos helped belie the notion that ICE agents in airports threatened Americans or that travelers opposed their presence.
Luke’s series was the result of a months-long investigation that required trips to Ohio to document fraudulent “home healthcare” facilities that billed Medicaid for millions despite not offering any services. His reporting sparked a congressional hearing and prompted Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and Vice President JD Vance to pledge to investigate fraud.
Meg’s series of pieces, the result of years of Freedom of Information Act requests, reminded Americans what was at stake in the 2024 election — and what would be at stake in future contests. Her ability to translate complex bureaucratic documents and connect the dots across the interconnected web of government agencies and radical activist groups is award-worthy on its own.
All three of these reporters worked tirelessly on these stories. Our readers may not always see the work that goes into such feats of reporting, but I do, and I can promise you that these three are the rule, not the exception, on The Daily Wire staff. Our commitment to reporting on things Americans care about and holding those in power accountable is steadfast. Awards are nice, but we don’t do this for the recognition — we do it for the country.
If you haven’t yet, take a minute to read the nominated stories — we promise you won’t be disappointed.
And thank you for continuing to read, comment, and support The Daily Wire. Our community makes it all possible.
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