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Friday September 5, 2008
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Friday September 5, 2008
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John Walcott, McClatchy's Washington Bureau chief, is the first recipient of the I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence. Walcott is being honored for leading his team of reporters in their probing, skeptical coverage of events during the run-up to the Iraq war at a time when most U.S. news organizations failed to question the motives and rationale for the invasion of Iraq.
Established earlier this year, the I.F Stone Medal recognizes journalistic independence and honors the life of investigative journalist I.F. Stone. The award is administered by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard and the Nieman Watchdog Project and will be presented annually to a journalist whose work captures the spirit of independence, integrity and courage that characterized I.F. Stone’s Weekly, published 1953-1971.In 2002, Walcott, then Knight Ridder Washington, D.C., bureau chief, and two of his top reporters, Jonathan Landay and Warren Strobel, produced dozens of stories that refuted the Bush administration’s claims about the need for war and exposed the serious reservations many intelligence, Foreign Service and military officers had about the rush to invade Iraq.Walcott is now McClatchy's Washington bureau chief; Landay and Strobel are senior correspondents.In announcing the award, Nieman Curator Bob Giles said, "This is belated recognition of the powerful work done by Walcott in directing his colleagues in developing stories that were unappreciated and almost totally unnoticed at the time. Because so many journalists fell short in their pre-Iraq war coverage, there’s a real need to recognize this dogged editor who went about his business in a resolute way to challenge many of the justifications for the war that proved to be false."The Miami Herald received one of the nation's top journalism awards for poverty coverage for an investigation last year revealing sweeping problems in Miami-Dade's largest poverty agency.
Reporters Scott Hiaasen and Jason Grotto won first place in the Harry Chapin Media Awards for the series, Poverty Peddlers, which revealed the Miami-Dade Empowerment Trust squandered millions of dollars on pet projects and insider deals while failing to deliver promised jobs. The series was edited by investigations editor Michael Sallah.The stories showed how a prominent developer was secretly siphoning hundreds of thousands of dollars from a bio-tech project in Liberty City that was supposed to create jobs for the poor and how the Empowerment Trust used tax money to fly multimillionaire celebrities to Miami on luxury jets.One of the judges for the contest, organized by World Hunger Year, called the series "stunning and extraordinary. It's what reporting is supposed to be."The awards will be presented by representatives of World Hunger Year and the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism in New York on Oct. 7.Michael Roehrman, the senior editor for production at The Wichita Eagle in Kansas, was named one of the best and brightest headline writers in the country by the American Copy Editors Society at its annual conference in Denver last month.
Roehrman, a 12-year employee at The Wichita Eagle who oversees the copy desk and design team, won the 2007 headline writing competition among newspapers with a circulation of 50,000 to 100,000.Roehrman won his division for the second year in a row. The 2007 honor was this third win overall.He won for his portfolio of five headlines, including "He tries to steal money, he gets nun" and "Time to use your morel compass."One judge wrote: "I liked Roehrman's entries because they were excellent headlines for serious and at times tragic stories. Too often we applaud cute heads for cute stories. 'The damage you can't see,' which worked well as a package with the photos and all, and 'Pomp despite circumstances' were poignant and true to the stories."You can see all Roehrman's winning headlines in context with the accompanying stories and art online here.The Society of American Business Editors and Writers has recognized six McClatchy newspapers for outstanding work in business journalism -- in both print and online -- during 2007.
The Charlotte Observer, The Miami Herald, The News Tribune, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, The Kansas City Star and the Ledger-Enquirer were all among the winners announced March 27 in SABEW's 13th annual Best in Business Journalism contest.The Charlotte Observer won awards in five different categories for mid-sized publications and websites -- overall excellence, breaking news, enterprise reporting, print projects and online projects.Its yearlong series "Sold a Nightmare" -- which has already won a McClatchy President's Award and a George R. Polk Award -- won in the project categories for both online and print. The project looked at Charlotte's high rate of housing foreclosures and the questionable sales practices by Beazer Homes USA, one of the nation's largest homebuilders. The paper's reporting led to multiple federal and state investigations.The Miami Herald won for overall excellence among "large" newspapers -- or those with a circulation from 225,000 to 325,000. The News Tribune in Tacoma, Wash., won for overall excellence among "small" newspapers -- or those with a circulation below 125,000. The News Tribune also won for Dan Voelpel's column writing.The Fort Worth Star-Telegram likewise won two awards: Mitchell Schnurman won for column writing among mid-sized publications, and the paper won in the blog category for mid-sized websites.The Kansas City Star won for print projects among large publications for "Fatal Failures," an investigation that found front airbags failed to inflate in hundreds of head-on car crashes.The Ledger-Enquirer in Columbus, Ga., won for column writing among small newspapers for the work of freelance business columnist Susan Miller. Miller has won the award three years in a row. The complete list of winners is available at the SABEW websiteThe Scripps Howard Foundation cited McClatchy journalists for excellence on March 7 for outstanding Washington reporting, feature writing and commentary.
Reporters for the McClatchy Washington Bureau received the Raymond Clapper award for Washington reporting for their groundbreaking coverage last year of the firings of nine U.S. attorneys by the Bush administration.Contest judges noted that McClatchy's reporting linked "the unexplained firing of nine U.S. attorneys to interventions by top officials in the White House and U.S. Justice Department."Their stories helped spark congressional investigations that led to the resignations of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and 11 others at the Justice Department and the White House.The McClatchy reporters are Marisa Taylor, Margaret Talev and Greg Gordon.The foundation also recognized journalists from two McClatchy newspapers -- the Anchorage Daily News and The Kansas City Star.Julia O'Malley of Anchorage won the Ernie Pyle award for "finding untold stories in often-overlooked places -- living rooms, courtrooms and homeless shelters, a Buddhist temple and a university's computer lab."Jason Whitlock of The Kansas City Star won for commentary "for his ability to seamlessly integrate sports commentary with social commentary and to challenge widely held assumptions along the racial divide."Ana Menendez, a columnist for The Miami Herald, was a finalist for commentary.Lois Norder, managing editor of investigations at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, has won the 2008 Mimi Award for her exceptional work as an editor.
The Mimi is given by the Dart Society, an independent group of journalists dedicated to promoting sensitive coverage of victims of violence. Norder is the award's second recipient. The Mimi Award was created to honor the memory of Providence Journal editor Mimi Burkhardt, who died unexpectedly in December 2004.Norder was nominated by a group of journalists who say she champions and nurtures both the stories she edits and the reporters who write those stories."You can always go into her office and interrupt her. She's completely available and committed to every aspect of the story," says Yamil Berard, a projects reporter at the Star-Telegram. "You can ask her anything you want. You can tell her what your biggest fear on something is, and she is completely helpful."The Dart Society plans to present the award, which includes a $1,000 prize, at a ceremony at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.As managing editor of the Star-Telegram's investigations team for the last six years, Norder has helped reporters uncover numerous local and statewide problems including shoddy health care for the poor; misuse of school tax dollars; mistreatment of prisoners; questionable decisions that put hundreds of city workers’ retirement benefits at risk; shortfalls in the levels of charity care provided by hospitals; and cutthroat deal-making of corporations and power brokers.Her reporters describe her as an idea factory, writing guru, skeptical optimist and crusader for the underdog. She has inspired scores of reporters across the country.You can learn more about Norder's honor here.The 65th annual Pictures of the Year International, one of the oldest, largest and most prestigious photojournalism competitions in the world, has awarded Lexington Herald-Leader photographer David Stephenson first place in the "Best Multimedia" category for his work on the series "A New Dawn?".
Stephenson and reporter Mary Meehan spent parts of the last four years chronicling the plight of Dawn Nicole Smith, a 22-year-old mother battling drug addiction after she was sentenced to treatment -- not prison time -- in a county "drug court" program. The story was published in the Lexington Herald-Leader in a six-part series last October. Stephenson's accompanying multimedia project ran on Kentucky.com at the same time the story was published in the paper.Stephenson beat out 125 entries from around the world. Second place went to the Los Angeles Times and third to Toronto's Globe and Mail.Stephenson, 37, joined the Herald Leader in 1997 and twice has won the Kentucky News Photographers Association's Photographer of the Year Award. He was named National Press Photographers Association Region 4 Photographer of the Year in 2000 and 2002. He is a graduate of Western Kentucky University.Leila Fadel, McClatchy's Baghdad bureau chief, won the George R. Polk Award for outstanding foreign reporting and The Charlotte Observer won the Polk Award for outstanding economic reporting, Long Island University announced Feb. 19.
Fadel, 26, was cited for her "vivid depictions" of the military and political struggle in Iraq. "Her work provided a comprehensive array of disturbing, first-hand accounts of violence and conflict by juxtaposing the agonizing plight of families in ethnically torn neighborhoods with the braggadocio of a vengeful insurgent proud of his murderous exploits, and the carnage and sorrow among victims of Iraq's most deadly car bombing in a remote region of the country where few reporters ventured," the jurors said.Reporters for The Charlotte Observer, one of McClatchy's 31 daily newspapers, were recognized for a yearlong series that "exposed questionable practices by one of the nation's largest homebuilders, prompting multiple federal and state investigations, including a federal criminal investigation and an inquiry by the Securities and Exchange Commission," the jurors said. The articles, they noted, were "published long before many people had recognized the crisis that was brewing."The George R. Polk Awards memorialize CBS News correspondent George W. Polk, who was slain while covering the civil war in Greece in 1948. A committee of jurors comprised of Long Island University faculty members and alumni select the winners from entries submitted by independent journalists, news organizations and a formal panel of media professionals that includes a number of former Polk Award winners.Here are the links for the entries for Leila Fadel:A ride through the landscape of war, 10/07/07Iraqi's chilling tales of revenge, 06/22/07Mahdi Army makes a final push to control southwest Baghdad, 6/11/2007Ordinary life hardly the norm in Baghdad, 09/14/07As U.S. officials touted progress, Blackwater guards killed 16, 09/27/07For Baghdad couples, love often lost amid sectarian struggle, 08/22/07Ambassador sees tough path in Iraq, 08/21/07Iraqi prime minister says he won\'t resign, 8/28/07U.S. sponsorship of Sunni groups worries Iraq\'s government, 11/29/07In Iraqi villages devastated by blasts, recovery and mourning continue, 08/21/07Mark Briggs of The News Tribune and Maria Ravera of The Sacramento Bee are being recognized by Presstime magazine as among "the best and brightest young professionals in the newspaper business."
Each year since 1993, the glossy monthly magazine of the Newspaper Association of America has profiled 20 up and coming young newspaper professionals in its December issue.This year's "20 Under 40" feature includes Briggs, the assistant managing editor for interactive news at The News Tribune in Tacoma, Wash., and Ravera, director of audience development, at The Sacramento Bee.In a press release announcing the 20 honorees, Presstime's editors described them as "change agents within their companies and the industry, providing much needed leadership and vision."Briggs has worked at The News Tribune since 2004. He's also the author of the book "Journalism 2.0," a "digital literacy guide for the information age." (Information at www.kcnn.org/resources/journalism_20/.)Ravera has worked for The Sacramento Bee's circulation department since 1995. This is her second national honor from NAA. She was named the 2006 Circulation Sales Executive of the Year for newspapers with a circulation of 150,000 and more.You can read their Presstime profiles at www.naa.org/presstime/20U40.Jack Chang, the Rio de Janeiro-based chief of McClatchy's South America bureau, received Brazil's most prestigious journalism award, the Embratel Prize, Nov. 28 during a dinner in Rio de Janeiro.
Chang, 34, was honored in the foreign correspondent category for his story "Black Brazilians begin to fight back," which explored racism in Brazil and the rising civil rights movement there. The story was one of a series of articles on Afro-Latin Americans that ran in The Miami Herald and were distributed by the McClatchy-Tribune News Service.The Embratel Prize is awarded annually to reporters in 17 categories by the Professional Journalists Union of Rio de Janeiro and the Brazilian Association of Reporters, Photographers and Cinematographers in conjunction with the Brazilian communications company Embratel. Winners received cash awards of about $3,500 each. More than 1,080 journalists entered the competition this year.A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley with a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University, Chang was named South America bureau chief in August 2005. Before that, he covered immigration for The Contra Costa Times. In addition to Spanish and Portuguese, Chang speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese.The other finalists in the foreign correspondent category were Mario Osava of the Rome-based International Press Service and Tom Phillips of the British newspaper The Guardian.The award-winning story: www.mcclatchydc.com/world/story/16924.htmlChang's page on McClatchy's Washington bureau website: www.mcclatchydc.com/161
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