Flynn McRoberts, Medill ’89, and Patricia Callahan, Medill ’93, were part of a Chicago Tribune team that recently won a Pulitzer Prize in Investigative Reporting.

McRoberts and Callahan contributed to a series on lax safety regulations for toys, cribs and car seats. The series created public outcry and sparked action in Congress.

“Because of the series, they finally put the teeth back in the consumer protection laws,” said McRoberts, the deputy projects editor for the Tribune.

Callahan, an investigative journalist, discovered public records proving the Consumer Product Safety Commission was not investigating hazard-related court cases in a timely manner. She called the moment she found out about the award “bittersweet.”

“We were very excited and honored to win, and yet there was a very emotional moment for me at least, because the stories were so … haunting to be writing about babies who died,” Callahan said.

McRoberts said projects like these are at the heart of journalism.

“It is expensive and it doesn’t generate revenue, but it does what we’re supposed to be doing which is afflicting the comfortable and comforting the afflicted, as they say,” he said.