Joce Sterman, Daniela Molina and Scotty Smith awarded prize from Military Reporters & Editors
WASHINGTON — During its annual conference for journalists who cover the military, Military Reporters & Editors presented awards to winners of its 2025 MRE Journalism Contest. Joce Sterman, Daniela Molina and Scotty Smith given MRE’s TV/Video Documentary Division 1 award for a story about medical malpractice in the military, aired online by Investigate TV.
Award Summary
Story: “Doctors of Defense”, Investigate TV (Gray Media) 12/12/2024
Prize Category: Best TV/Video Documentary Division 1, Journalism content broadcast via television or video published by online media.
Best documentary or docuseries designed around a single topic related to the military and distributed by a national or international outlet or network, including partnerships between local stations and networks, where the network has significant editorial input into a story or series.
Additional Credits: Jamie Grey, Managing Editor and Lee Zurik, SVP News Strategy & Innovation
Judges’ Comments:
Joce Sterman presents disheartening, disturbing coverage revealing an unacceptable lack of transparency and accountability of military medical malpractice in “Doctors of Defense.” Even well-respected military medical institutions hide behind federal law as justification for withholding basic information about potentially dangerous medical providers that could put military members and their families at risk. Social media sourcing helped the team find a path through this reporting, finding countless heartbreaking situations, and a medical whistleblower. This years-long reporting effort has helped spark interest from Congress to demand answers, and may lead to much-needed changes in policy. Strong visuals and graphics added to the featured subjects to distill a sprawling problem and make it digestible in a half-hour presentation.
Watch the Winning Documentary
Journalist Biography
Joce Sterman
Joce Sterman is the senior national investigative reporter
for InvestigateTV. Her stories are seen on 113 Gray TV
affiliates across the nation, syndicated to their websites
and included on the national shows InvestigateTV+ and
InvestigateTV+ Weekend Edition which air in all Gray
markets as well as additional cities including Dallas,
Miami, New York, Philadelphia and San Francisco. She’s a
National Murrow, National Headliner, and Sigma Delta Chi
award winner whose work has resulted in Congressional
investigations and federal legislation. Joce’s former roles
include reporting for WJLA/ABC7 in DC, and WMAR/ABC2
in Baltimore
Daniela Molina
Daniela Molina is a bilingual investigative journalist who has worked with InvestigateTV for five years. Throughout her time on the team she has uncovered nursing home abuse, desecration of Black cemeteries, lack of updated emergency medical kits on airlines and has exposed extreme levels of secrecy within the military medical system. Daniela
also has a Spanish financial consumer segment called “Cuidando Su Billetera” that airs on Telemundo stations throughout Gray Media.
Scotty Smith
Scotty Smith is an investigative photojournalist with Investigate TV, based in Washington DC. He is originally from Alaska and began his career as a photojournalist in 2003. Throughout his career he has covered Hurricane Katrina, investigated a serial killer in Alaska, covered protests at the White House over the murder of George Floyd, and the January 6th riot at the U.S. Capitol building. Most recently, he was an
investigative photojournalist at WJLA in Washington DC. Scotty has bachelor’s degrees in Mathematics from the University of Alaska and Film Studies from the University of Utah.