IndyStar’s reporting in collaboration with Mirror Indy on conflicts of interest within Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett’s administration ― a series dubbed “Mr. Clean” ― took home multiple top prizes at the annual state Society for Professional Journalists competition.
The journalists found that Hogsett allowed his former chief of staff Thomas Cook, whose sexual misconduct allegations the two outlets investigated in 2024, to cash in on millions in city incentives overseen by a city official with whom he had a romantic relationship. The stories also revealed that the Hogsett administration routinely awards no-bid contracts, including to campaign donors.
The series earned three awards at the SPJ awards banquet on April 17, honoring work from 2025: Story of the Year, first place for the A-Mark Prize for Investigative Reporting and first place in the investigative reporting category for news media with circulation above 10,000.
One judge was quoted as saying the work exemplified journalists’ “obligation to serve as a watchdog.”
The series was reported by IndyStar journalists Tony Cook and Jordan Smith and Mirror Indy journalists Peter Blanchard and Emily Hopkins.
Individual IndyStar journalists recognized
Both current and former individual IndyStar journalists also received top awards.
Hayleigh Colombo, who transitioned to the investigative team this month from her previous role as senior government accountability reporter, was named Journalist of the Year.
The award acknowledges her work breaking news of the Cook allegations, reporting on statewide officials’ use of taxpayer dollars to pay for luxury $90,000 vehicles, finding that most Indiana townships pay trustees more than they provide in poor relief, and unveiling a web of lucrative friendships that received millions in contracts from the state’s economic development arm.
Indiana SPJ also took the unusual step of selecting not one but two honorees for the Slaymaker Service to Journalism Award, both with longtime ties to IndyStar.
Tim Evans worked at the IndyStar for nearly three decades, first as a reporter and then investigative editor. During his tenure he uncovered systemic failures impacting the welfare of children, spearheaded a hotline helping Hoosiers recover millions in consumer disputes, and helped expose the sexual abuse scandal within USA Gymnastics that sent team doctor Larry Nassar to jail and led to a Netflix documentary.
Evans earned dozens of awards over his nearly 50-year career in journalism and in 2020 was inducted into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame. He retired in 2025.
The other Slaymaker award went to Cathy Knapp, who spent more than 40 years as the IndyStar newsroom researcher before taking her skills to Indiana Public Media in Bloomington in 2016. In her role, she is the tracker of impossible-to-track information, the keeper of microfilm, the purveyor of databases.
Other top awards for IndyStar journalism
IndyStar also took home 10 first-place awards in the following categories:
Contact IndyStar Statehouse reporter Kayla Dwyer at kdwyer@indystar.com or follow her on X @kayla_dwyer17.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IndyStar/Mirror Indy ‘Mr. Clean’ investigation sweeps statewide awards
Reporting by Kayla Dwyer, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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