In 2019, our world-class reporting was inspired by you

The holiday season is the time of year when we let our family and friends know how much they mean to us. It’s the same for us at the Miami Herald. We consider loyal readers like you to be a part of the family, and that inspires us to do our best work, every day. Our passion is to bring you the kind of journalism that touches hearts and minds, and makes a difference to South Florida.

We are sincerely grateful to our readers, subscribers and advertisers for your support, which has allowed us to cover some of the most important stories of 2019:

JEFFREY EPSTEIN

Perversion of Justice, our investigation into how multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein avoided serious punishment after assembling and coercing a network of underage girls into performing sex acts, had major impact in 2019. In July, federal prosecutors charged Epstein with molesting dozens of underage girls in New York and Florida. Days later, Alexander Acosta, who oversaw Epstein’s lenient sentence while U.S. Attorney in Miami, resigned as U.S. Secretary of Labor. A month later, Epstein was found dead in a Manhattan prison cell.

HURRICANE DORIAN

After Hurricane Dorian devastated the Bahamas on September 1, a team of Miami Herald reporters and visual journalists were among the first on the ground to bring back the story of devastation and need. Their reports, photos and videos led news organizations throughout the U.S. in telling this important story.

PRICED OUT OF PARADISE

This series of stories examined how Miami-Dade became the most expensive metropolitan area in the U.S. for renters and among the costliest for homebuyers. We explored what that means for the economic future of our region and our residents, as well as some potential solutions to the crisis.

TRUMP TOURISM: ACCESS FOR SALE

In a series of reports, Miami Herald reporters disclosed how President Donald Trump has become a favorite target of a little-known Chinese industry peddling access to the rich and powerful, mainly through the venue of Mar-a-Lago, the private club the president owns in Palm Beach. The story was largely told through Cindy Yang, a former massage parlor operator who became a major GOP operative, bundling contributions from Chinese expats and funneling the proceeds into the campaign accounts of President Trump and other Republicans.

CHAOS IN PUERTO RICO

Nearly two years after a devastating hurricane, Puerto Rico reeled from a new political crisis touched off when a leaked private group chat on a messaging app revealed crude conversations among Governor Ricardo Rosselló and his closest advisers — and pointed to possible wrongdoing within their circle. The chats, coupled with corruption charges against former top officials, ignited public outrage against the governor, who ultimately resigned. Reporters from the Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald were on the island to document the protests and the aftermath.

CLIMATE CHANGE

The Miami Herald has the only reporter in Florida devoted to full-time climate change coverage, and her work in 2019 showed how rising seas and temperatures are impacting our daily lives, from public health to our pocketbooks. In addition, the Herald helped launch the Florida Climate Reporting Network, a consortium of news organizations across the state.

SINCE PARKLAND

Collaborating with The Trace, a national nonprofit news organization focused on the impact of gun violence, the Miami Herald documented the deaths of nearly 1,200 children, ages zero to 18, killed in shootings in one year, starting with the day of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School tragedy.

HAITI

In Haiti, we provided exclusive coverage of a year of crisis that included chronic fuel shortages, widespread allegations of public corruption and the end of the U.N. peacekeeping mission. Those events paralyzed Haiti’s government and led to demands for the president’s resignation.

ODEBRECHT: THE BRIBERY DIVISION

Partnering with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, the Herald revealed that the Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht’s cash-for-contracts operation was far bigger than the company has acknowledged, and involved prominent figures — some posted in Miami — and massive public works projects not mentioned in the criminal cases or other official inquiries to date. The project also disclosed that Odebrecht spread its tentacles to Cuba. Between 2010 and 2015, the company made irregular payments tied to the modernization of the port of Mariel and the planned expansion of two Cuban airports, totalling more than $800 million. The stories illustrated how Odebrecht sought to hide its involvement in Cuba in order to maintain political viability in Miami, an Odebrecht hub where doing business with Cuba is toxic.

Thank you for making these important projects possible. If you would like to find out more about our investigative reporting plans for 2020, please visit hrld.us/investigativelab.

All of us at the Miami Herald wish you a happy and healthy New Year!

Aminda Marqués González

President & Publisher | Executive Editor