L.A. Times’ Kate Linthicum Wins 2026 Cabot Prize for Outstanding Reporting on the Americas
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Los Angeles Times staff writer Kate Linthicum has won a 2026 Maria Moors Cabot Prize for her outstanding coverage of Latin America and her contributions to inter-American understanding. Columbia Journalism School announced the honorees on July 29.
“This is so well-deserved,” said Steve Padilla, Column One editor. “I was especially delighted to see that the awards committee singled out the beauty of Kate’s writing because it is vivid, precise and, when read aloud, nestles gently in the ear.”
Based in Mexico City as a foreign correspondent, Linthicum joined The Times in 2008. Over her career, she has covered immigration, local and national politics, and reported extensively across Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
In an announcement, the Cabot Prize Jury commended Linthicum for continuing “a long tradition of exceptional Los Angeles Times correspondents, many of whom have won Maria Moors Cabot Prizes over the decades for outstanding coverage of Latin America.”
The jury lauded Linthicum’s work as “well-reported, deeply sourced and beautifully written,” adding that her stories “transport readers and capture some of the biggest currents in the region: the rise of populism, erosion of press freedoms and expansion of violent organized crime mafia.”
The judges highlighted several of Linthicum’s standout pieces, including her pandemic reporting on a 12-year-old boy forced to work in banana groves and her coverage of a family facing drought in northern Mexico, pointing out that she “focuses on the people most affected by these macro stories.” The jury also praised Linthicum’s reporting on gun trafficking from the United States, remarking that she “connects the global and the local in powerful narratives about the impact of the relocation of manufacturing production from the United States to Mexico.” Linthicum’s reporting has also celebrated Latin America’s popular culture, with the jury highlighting her piece on Mexico City as the PDA capital of the world.
Founded in 1938 by Godfrey Lowell Cabot as a memorial to his wife, the Maria Moors Cabot Prizes are the oldest international awards in journalism. Administered by Columbia Journalism School, the prizes honor career excellence and coverage of the Western Hemisphere. Prize recipients will be celebrated during an award ceremony on Thursday, Oct. 8. To learn more about the Cabot Prizes, visit journalism.columbia.edu.
