Jason Dearen

Jason Dearen

Dearen attended Columbia University where he received a Master of Science in Journalism.

Jason Dearen is an Associated Press journalist known for his explosive investigative journalism pieces. He got his start at the Oakland Tribune, where he reported from the courts on some momentous cases, such as the Scott Peterson trial.

Working for the Associated Press, he focuses on accountability journalism covering topics such as criminal justice, public health, the U.S. military, domestic extremism, and the environment. He has contributed to publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, and The Guardian.

Jason Dearen has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize twice by the Associated Press. He developed his bestselling debut novel while he was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow.

His investigative work extended into multimedia when he produced Grand Knighthawk, his documentary on Hulu in 2023. The film was the winner of the Outstanding Crime & Justice Reporting Emmy Award in 2024.

For his work in Hidden Confessions of the Mormon Church, the NPR Reveal podcast, Daren and his colleagues won the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Journalism Award. Their work exposed a loophole that made it easier for the LDS church to conceal child sex abuse cases.

Jason Dearen’s work has resulted in a range of policy changes, including multimillion-dollar Superfund actions, EPA cleanup of mercury mines, military health reviews at Fort Ord, and enhanced fracking oversight.

Jason Dearen published his work Kill Shot in 2021, in which he shone the spotlight on the true story of the deadliest drug contamination scandal in the United States.

It looks into the fungal meningitis crisis of 2012, which was the result of contaminated steroid injections that originated from the New England Compounding Center, leaving more than 100 dead.

Even though the organization branded itself as high-end, it was marred with filthy labs, unqualified staff, and gross negligence. He looks at the race to find the cause of the deaths and the drama in the courts once NECC was unmasked, and the regulatory failures that made their crime possible.

Kill Shot shows how weak oversight and unchecked greed could easily result in a public health tragedy.

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4. Carmel Rhodes, author of the Brighton Series.
5. Abigail Mangin, author of the Visage Series.

Jason Dearen: F.A.Q