I’m a multi-award winning investigative journalist based in Brooklyn, NY. I focus on technology and human rights investigations, as well as coverage of energy, finance, politics, economics, the Middle East, and healthcare. My written work has been published by The Guardian, The Washington Post, New York Times, The Observer, The Telegraph, The Independent, Rappler, Forbes, New Internationalist, The Financial Times’ This is Africa, Al Jazeera, Rest of World, NBC News, Intercept Brasil, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), and others. I was based in Dubai from 2016 to 2022.
My photography has been published alongside my stories in the Guardian, The Washington Post, New York Times, the Observer, the Independent, New Internationalist, and Global Voices.
I specialize in human trafficking investigations. In 2021, I uncovered a trafficking network forcing Filipino women to travel to Syria, where they were sold into servitude. My front page article for the Washington Post resulted in the rescue of 70 trafficking survivors, two Philippine senate hearings, the arrest of a human trafficker, and the removal of the Philippine ambassador to Syria.
My 2022 front page Washington Post investigation into illicit Iranian fuel smuggling triggered the US Treasury Department to dispatch a senior investigator to the UAE, which resulted in several local companies being sanctioned.
I’ve reported from more than 20 countries, including Jordan, Norway, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Nepal, South Africa, Estonia, Seychelles, Rwanda, the West Bank, and Hong Kong.
My work has been cited in reports by the United States Department of Justice, the State Department’s Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, US Congress, US Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee, United Nations General Assembly, a US Supreme Court amicus brief, the UN’s International Organization of Migration (IOM), Human Rights Watch, US AID, and also HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver programme.
Awards and nominations:
2025 – Fetisov Journalism Awards – Contribution to Civil Rights category – Second Prize
2024 – Investigative Reporters and Editors – Tom Renner Award (for Covering Organized Crime or Other Criminal Acts) – Finalist
2024 – Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) – Excellence in International Reporting – Winner
2024 – United Nations International Labor Organization (ILO) – Global Media Competition on Labour Migration – Finalist
2024 – SABEW Best in Business Awards 2023 – International Reporting – Large Division – Honorable Mention
2023 – United Nations International Labor Organization (ILO) – Global Media Competition on Labour Migration – Finalist
2023 – British Journalism Awards – Technology Journalism Award – Finalist
2023 – Society of Editors Media Freedom Awards (UK) – Freelance Journalist of the Year – Shortlisted
2023 – South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA) – Outstanding Business Journalism – Winner
2023 – The National Press Club (Washington DC) – Michael A. Dornheim Award for Defense Coverage – Honorable Mention
2023 – The Dateline Club (Washington DC chapter of Society of Professional Journalists) – Online Investigative Journalism – Winner
2023 – The Dateline Club (Washington DC chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists) – Robert D.G. Lewis Watchdog Award – Winner
2023 – The Deadline Club (NYC chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists) – Business Investigative Reporting – Winner
2022 – United Nations International Labor Organization (ILO) – Global Media Competition on Labour Migration – Winner
2021 – South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA) – Outstanding Business Journalism – Winner
2021 – One World Media Awards – International Journalist of the Year – Longlisted
2021 – One World Media Awards – Print Award – Longlisted
You can email me at katielmcque@gmail.com.
Katie McQue 