A screenshot of the announcement awarding the Emmy to the 60 Minutes report titled «Targeting Americans.» Source: The Emmys (@TheEmmys / X)
A joint investigation by The Insider, Der Spiegel, and 60 Minutes into the mysterious condition known as “Havana Syndrome” has received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Investigative News Coverage.
The award-winning investigation explored a series of unexplained incidents that have affected U.S. diplomats, intelligence officers, and other government officials around the world for more than a decade. Victims have described what feels like a paralyzing blow from an invisible force, often resulting in lifelong disabilities. Symptoms include extreme migraines, loss of balance, and difficulty concentrating. 
Until recently, U.S. intelligence agencies maintained they had no evidence linking foreign actors to the syndrome. However, the joint reporting by The Insider, Der Spiegel, and 60 Minutes revealed that the timing and locations of several attacks coincided with the movements of operatives from Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency.
This is not the first time The Insider has received recognition for its investigative reporting. In September 2021, a joint investigation by The Insider, Bellingcat, and CNN (with contributions from Der Spiegel) into the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was also awarded an Emmy for Outstanding Investigative News Coverage. That report, released in December 2020, concluded that at least eight officers from the FSB’s Criminalistics Institute (also known as FSB NII-2 or Military Unit 34435) were involved in the attempted assisination of Vladimir Putin’s most prominent domestic critic. The institute is believed to house a covert laboratory that produces secret poisons for special operations.
A documentary based on that investigation — Navalny, directed by Canadian filmmaker Daniel Roher — went on to win the BAFTA for Best Documentary in February 2023. The film also received the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in March that year.
