Alumnus Brett Murphy (A&S ’14) Wins Prestigious Journalism Award

Pitt alumnus Brett Murphy (A&S ’14) has received a Livingston Award for international reporting for his article, “Show of Force,” published in USA Today.

The Livingston Awards, presented by the Wallace House at the University of Michigan, annually recognizes three journalists under the age of 35 for outstanding reporting in three categories: local, national and international reporting.

While working on “Show of Force,” Murphy reported from Azizabad, Afghanistan, investigating a 2008 U.S. military attack on its own forces that killed dozens of civilians—many of them children—and the following attempts from the U.S. Department of Defense to downplay the tragedy. According to USA Today, the investigation took more than a year to complete before it was published in 2019.

Murphy holds a bachelor’s degree from the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences' Department of English, minors in the departments of Political Science and Studio Arts, and a certificate in Public and Professional Writing. He also served as guest associate editor for Pitt Med magazine.