On March 23, one group of intrepid reporters will be winning $25,000 for the 2010 Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting. The six finalists announced today come from such varied locales and media as KHOU-TV in Houston, The Boston Globe, and ProPublica. Being a finalist carries a $10,000 award. Who says that journalism doesn’t pay?

According to the Harvard Kennedy School of Government’s Web site, the goal of the Goldsmith prize is to “recognize and encourage journalism which promotes more effective and ethical conduct of government, the making of public policy, or the practice of politics by disclosing excessive secrecy, impropriety and mismanagement, or instances of particularly commendable government performance.”

See the full list of winners after the jump.

Read More: Shorenstein Center Announces Book Prize Winners and Finalists for the 2010 Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting — Harvard Kennedy School

The finalists:

– J. Andrew Curliss and staff; Raleigh News & Observer; “Executive Privilege: The Perks of Power”

– Mark Greenblatt; KHOU-TV, Houston; “Under Fire: Discrimination and Corruption in the Texas National Guard”

– Sean P. Murphy; Boston Globe; “Gaming the System: Public Pensions the Massachusetts Way”

– Raquel Rutledge; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; “Cashing in on Kids”

– Joe Stephens, Lena H. Sun and Lyndsey Layton; Washington Post; “Death on the Rails”

– A.C. Thompson; ProPublica and The Nation Institute; In collaboration with: Gordon Russell, Laura Maggi and Brendan McCarthy, The New Orleans Times-Picayune and Tom Jennings, Frontline “Law and Disorder”