Hannah Natanson and Carol Leonnig to deliver 2026 IRE Conference keynote
Investigative Reporters and Editors is pleased to announce that Hannah Natanson of the Washington Post and Carol Leonnig of MS NOW will deliver the keynote address at the 2026 IRE Conference in National Harbor, June 18-21.
A discussion between Natanson and Leonnig will address conference attendees at the awards luncheon. This year, the awards luncheon will be a ticketed event, held on Friday, June 19.
“This conversation obviously comes at a particularly important moment for our field,” said IRE Board President Josh Hinkle. “Our members attending the conference will no doubt benefit from their experience navigating the challenges facing our industry today. Their reporting in the face of extraordinary pressure — followed by tremendous grace after the raid on Natanson’s home – underscores the stakes of accountability journalism and the example set for journalists facing the same risks.”
Natanson is a narrative enterprise reporter for The Washington Post. She most recently covered the Trump administration’s transformation of government, playing a key role on a team recognized with the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. Her coverage also won the 2026 Toner Prize for national political reporting and was a finalist for the Poynter First Amendment Prize.
She previously reported on education for six years and won a Peabody Award in 2024 for a podcast series on school gun violence. She also was part of a team of Post journalists awarded the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for coverage of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol; and part of another team of Post journalists who were finalists for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News for coverage of mass shootings in Dayton and El Paso. Natanson graduated from Harvard, where she served as managing editor of The Harvard Crimson.
Leonnig is a five-time Pulitzer Prize winner, an author of four New York Times bestselling books, and senior investigative correspondent for MS NOW. She had previously worked as an investigative reporter at the Washington Post for more than 25 years.
She’s an authority on government misconduct and corruption, the Justice Department and Donald Trump. Her first book, “A Very Stable Genius”, chronicles the early portion of his first presidency, and her second, “I Alone Can Fix It”, recounts the catastrophic final year of his first term. Her most recent book, “Injustice”, about the destruction of the Department of Justice, was released Nov. 4
“There’s never been a more essential time in my career for fearless and rigorous reporting about facts — and I’m grateful for IRE for continuing to support, teach and promote this kind of difficult work,” Leonnig said.
The IRE Awards Luncheon is a tradition that recognizes journalists for their outstanding investigative work in the past year — it’s not just a meal; it’s a chance to celebrate excellence within our community. This year, the IRE Awards Luncheon will be held on Friday, June 19. The conference has a new registration format with two options:
- An all-access level that includes a seat at the IRE Awards Luncheon, and
- A basic level that does not.
By voting to make the luncheon optional, the IRE Board aimed to reflect actual attendance while reducing food waste. The Board’s Affordability Task Force consulted with peer organizations that have successfully ticketed their luncheons, learning valuable insights that guided our approach. This change embodies our commitment to balancing affordability with the importance of honoring our award recipients.
Thank you for your understanding and patience as we navigate this transition. If you have any questions or feedback, you can contact the IRE Board via email: board@ire.org.