Sheila S. Coronel is a Philippines-born investigative journalist and journalism professor. She is one of the founders of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ). In 2006, she was named the inaugural director of th
Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism
at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

's Graduate School of Journalism. In 2014, she was appointed the School's Academic Dean, a position she held until the end of 2020.

Biography

Coronel, the oldest of six children, was born to Antonio Coronel, a criminal defense attorney, and Dorotea Soto, an English teacher and entrepreneur. She graduated from the College of the Holy Spirit Manila and the

University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; ) is a Higher education in the Philippines#State universities and colleges, state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by List of Philippine laws, Re ...

with a degree in political science. She became an activist in college and was nearly arrested during a military roundup in 1982. She earned a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in political sociology from the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

. Coronel began her journalism career during the twilight of the dictatorship of

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino lawyer, politician, dictator, and Kleptocracy, kleptocrat who served as the tenth president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled the c ...

. After the

People Power Revolution The People Power Revolution, also known as the EDSA Revolution or the February Revolution, were a series of popular Demonstration (people), demonstrations in the Philippines, mostly in Metro Manila, from February 22 to 25, 1986. There was a ...

that ousted Marcos, she worked as a political reporter for ''The Manila Times'' and ''The Manila Chronicle,'' and in 1989, became the first executive director of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, one of the earliest nonprofit investigative centers to be formed globally. In
series of articles in 2001
the organization exposed corruption by then-President Joseph Estrada; the series sparked impeachment hearings in the Philippine Senate and a popular uprising that ousted the president. In 2006 she joined the

Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism sch ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. In 2014 she took over as academic dean of the journalism school. As of 2024 she is the Toni Stabile Professor of Professional Practice in Investigative Journalism and the director of the Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism. Coronel is board chair of the Media Development Investment Fund, which invests in independent media in countries with a history of media repression. She also sits on the boards of the Committee to Protect Journalists, the

Columbia Journalism Review The ''Columbia Journalism Review'' (''CJR'') is a biannual magazine for professional journalists that has been published by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism since 1961. Its original purpose was "to assess the performance ...

, and

ProPublica ProPublica (), legally Pro Publica, Inc., is a nonprofit investigative journalism organization based in New York City. ProPublica's investigations are conducted by its staff of full-time reporters, and the resulting stories are distributed to ne ...

. In addition, she is a member and former board chair of the

International Consortium of Investigative Journalists The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Inc. (ICIJ), is an independent global network of 280 investigative journalists and over 140 media organizations spanning more than 100 countries. It is based in Washington, D.C., with ...

. Her recent work is on the populist Philippine President

Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945) is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the first Philippine president from Mindanao, and is the oldest person to assum ...

and police abuses in the war on drugs. She wrote about the link between police corruption and human rights abuses in the book,
A Duterte Reader.
' In a 2019 article for ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...

'', she and two Stabile Center fellows estimated that the casualties in Duterte's drug war were three times more than what the police claimed. As part of a series on populist autocrats published by ''Foreign Affairs'', she traced Duterte's rise from the gun-toting mayor of Davao City to president. She has also written about populist threats to democracy and press freedom.

Awards and honors

In early 1999, Coronel received the McLuhan Prize from the Canadian Embassy in Manila for her work as an investigative journalist. In 2001, she was named the Philippines' Best Print Journalist. After winning the Best Investigative Journalism Award four times in last 12 years, in 2001 she was included in the Hall of Fame list of Jaime V. Ongpin Awards for Investigative Journalism. In 2003, Coronel received the Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts. In 2011, she received one of Columbia's highest honors, the Presidential Teaching Award.

Publications

Coronel is the author or editor of a number of books on

investigative journalism Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, racial injustice, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend m ...

and Philippine politics and society, including ''The Rulemakers: How the Wealthy and Well-Born Dominate Congress''; ''Pork and Other Perks: Corruption and Governance in the Philippines;'' and ''Coups, Cults & Cannibals''.

Personal life

Coronel is the partner of Gina Chua, a journalist and

trans woman A trans woman or transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their ...

. Her sister is Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, a Filipino peace negotiator.

References

External links

Podcast Interview
with the San Francisco Chronicle. {{DEFAULTSORT:Coronel, Sheila Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Alumni of the London School of Economics Columbia University faculty Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism faculty Filipino women writers Filipino writers Ramon Magsaysay Award winners University of the Philippines Diliman alumni