Amy Brittain, an investigative reporter with The Washington Post since 2013, has specialized in coverage related to criminal justice and sexual assault, harassment, and misconduct. Her podcast, “Canary: The Washington Post Investigates,” was named by Apple Podcasts as one of the top twelve podcasts of 2020 and won the 2021 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award and the Edward R. Murrow Award.
She was part of a team of Post reporters to win the 2016 Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting for a groundbreaking database effort to track fatal police shootings. She received a George Polk Award for reporting on steroid abuse by law enforcement, a Mirror Award for breaking the story of sexual misconduct by TV host Charlie Rose, and a James Beard Award for investigative reporting. She was twice named a finalist for the Livingston Awards, which honor the top young journalists in the United States.
Brittain, a 2009 LSU mass communication cum laude graduate, was a reporter for The Daily Reveille. She also holds a master’s degree from the Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism at Columbia University.
She was the keynote speaker at the 2016 Summer Commencement ceremony and frequently visits campus to address Manship School of Mass Communication classes, the LSU chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, and to serve on various discussion panels. She also speaks to future journalists at colleges and universities, among them, Arizona State, Columbia, the University of Missouri, Georgetown, NYU, and George Mason University.
Brittain is a member of Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) and a past program coordinator and mentor for Press Pass Mentors, an organization that paired Washington Post journalists with D.C. high school students. In her community, she volunteers for People Animals Love (PAL) with the family Bernedoodle, Dolly, and during the pandemic helped coordinate virtual reading sessions for children to read to dogs over Zoom.
Brittain and her husband, Arman Sheybani, a 2008 LSU biological sciences graduate, live in Arlington, Va., with Jasper, their newborn son, and four-year-old dog Dolly.
* * *
"More than a decade ago, LSU became a second home for me when I first set foot on campus. I gained confidence at LSU because my professors and peers believed in my potential as a journalist. I think they saw something in me before I saw it in myself.
I still feel at home when I come back to visit. My best friends are LSU alumni. Most of my family are, too. I met my husband in the Quad, under the oak trees. There’s something about the place that just sticks with you over time and continues to draw you back in, even though many seasons of life.
It’s a special place. I am forever proud to be an LSU alumna." - Amy Brittain
