David Barstow serves as the Reva and David Logan Distinguished Chair in Investigative Journalism and chair of the Investigative Reporting Program at the University of California, Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism. He earned a Bachelor of Science in journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism in 1986. Northwestern honored him with a Distinguished Alumni Award in 2010, induction into the Medill Hall of Achievement in 2015, and an honorary Doctorate in Human Letters in 2024. A native of Concord, Massachusetts, Barstow’s career began at the Green Bay Press-Gazette in Wisconsin, followed by reporting roles at the Rochester Times-Union in New York and the St. Petersburg Times (now Tampa Bay Times) in Florida, where he was a three-time Pulitzer Prize finalist. In 1999, he joined The New York Times, becoming part of its investigative unit in 2002 and serving as a senior writer until 2019, when he transitioned to Berkeley.

As the first reporter to win four Pulitzer Prizes, Barstow received the Public Service award in 2004 (with Lowell Bergman) for exposing employers’ workplace safety violations that caused hundreds of deaths and injuries; Investigative Reporting in 2009 for the “Message Machine” series on the Pentagon’s covert media campaign during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars; Investigative Reporting in 2013 (with Alejandra Xanic von Bertrab) for “Walmart Abroad,” revealing bribery in Walmart’s Mexican expansion; and Explanatory Reporting in 2019 (with Russ Buettner and Susanne Craig) for an investigation into Donald Trump’s finances debunking his self-made wealth narrative. His other honors include three Polk Awards, the Goldsmith Prize, Alfred I. duPont Silver Baton, Barlett & Steele Gold Medal, Loeb Award, Sidney Hillman Award, Daniel Pearl Award for Investigative Reporting, two Sigma Delta Chi awards, Peabody Award, IRE Award, Mirror Award, Overseas Press Club Citation, two SABEW awards, and the Gold Keyboard. Since joining Berkeley in 2019, Barstow has led student teams producing over 200 investigative pieces published in top outlets like The New York Times, Washington Post, and ProPublica. Student investigations under his guidance have won Polk Awards in 2022 and 2024 and contributed to new California policing laws.

Professional Email: barstow@berkeley.edu