From Our Archive
Feb. 21, 2000
Scripps Howard Foundation
announces National Journalism Award winners
CINCINNATI -- The Scripps Howard Foundation today announced
the winners of its National Journalism Awards.
Four newspapers, a cable television network, a radio network,
a radio news service, a Web news site and 10 individuals
are being recognized for excellence in categories including,
editorial writing, human interest writing, environmental
and public service reporting, business/economics reporting,
commentary, photojournalism, electronic journalism and college
cartooning. Two new categories - Web reporting and editorial
cartooning - were added to the competition this year.
Two of the awards recognize distinguished service to literacy
and a third recognizes distinguished service to the First
Amendment.
Cash awards totaling $55,000 will be presented April 14
during a banquet at the National Press Club in Washington,
D.C.
"The winners of this year's National Journalism Awards are
an inspiration to all of us who aspire to the highest possible
standards of our profession," said Judith G. Clabes, president
and chief executive officer of the Scripps Howard Foundation. "The
journalists honored by these awards are making a profound
impact on the world in which they live."
William R. Burleigh, chairman and chief executive officer
of The E.W. Scripps Company, praised the winners of the
1999 competition.
"The National Journalism Awards give us the opportunity
each year to recognize the best and the brightest journalists
working in America today, and this year's winners are certainly
no exception," Burleigh said. "Knowing that there are
reporters and editors of such high caliber gives me great
confidence in journalism's future."
The winners are:
EDITORIAL WRITING
John C. Bersia, The Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel. Bersia
will receive $2,500 and the Walker Stone Award trophy.
Bersia won for a series of editorials, "Fleeced in
Florida," advocating regulatory reform of cash-advance businesses.
Judges said: "John Bersia gave voice to the voiceless
in editorials on how some money lenders are picking the
already thin pockets of mostly poor people. Bersia's calls
for reforms and the energy and persistence with which he
casts his arguments are models for the use of editorial
page muscle." Finalists: Antero Pietila,
The Baltimore Sun; Linda Valdez, The Arizona Republic, Phoenix;
William McGurn, The Wall Street Journal.
COMMENTARY
Susan Anne Nielsen, The Seattle Times. Nielsen
will receive $2,500 and a trophy.
Nielsen won for a selection of her weekly columns. Judge
said: "Impressive writing, refreshing outlook, wide range
of topics and lots of insight. Lots of thought went into
these pieces, and she can make you laugh out loud."
Finalists: Holman W. Jenkins Jr., The
Wall Street Journal; Derrick Z. Jackson, The Boston Globe.
HUMAN INTEREST WRITING
Helen O'Neill, Associated Press, New York. O'Neill will
receive $2,500 and the Ernie Pyle Award trophy.
O'Neill won for a selection of feature stories. Judges said:
"Helen O'Neill writes with an attention to detail that makes
you feel you are living her stories. Her reporting is precise
and her writing is compelling. She is truly the reader's
eyes, ears and heart."
Finalists: David Finkel, The Washington
Post; Anne Hull, St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times.
WEB REPORTING
APBnews.com, New York. ABPnews.com will receive
$2,500 and a trophy.
APBnews.com won for an in-depth analysis of crime risk on
U.S. college and university campuses. Judges said: "This
entry exemplifies the way exceptional computer-assisted
reporting and Web technologies can mesh into an excellent,
one-of-a-kind report."
Finalists: APBnews.com, New York; The
News Hour with Jim Lehrer, Arlington, Va.
ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTING - Over 100,000
circulation
Sam Roe, Toledo (Ohio) Blade. Roe will receive $2,500 and
the Edward J. Meeman Award trophy.
Roe won for a six-part series that exposed how the government-sanctioned
use of beryllium caused the injury and death of dozens of
workers. Judges said: "The Blade's series was remarkable
for the depth of reporting and concise writing by reporter
Sam Roe. It was a compelling expose."
Finalists: Joby Warrick, The Washington
Post; Brent Walth and Alex Pulaski, The Oregonian, Portland.
ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTING - Under
100,000 circulation
Mike Dunne, Baton Rouge (La.) Advocate. Dunne will receive
$2,500 and the Edward J. Meeman Award trophy.
Dunne won for a series of stories that illustrated flaws
in the government's attempts to save Louisiana wetlands.
Judges said: "In the finest tradition of journalism,
(Dunne) prompted environmental officials to make some changes
in the way they were going about protecting the state's
precious coastline. This is an excellent example of how
shining light on a problem can bring about positive change."
Finalists: Kevin Carmody, Daily Southtown,
Tinley Park, Ill.; Jeff Alexander, The Muskegon (Mich.)
Chronicle.
EDITORIAL CARTOONING
Ed Stein, Denver Rocky Mountain News. Stein will
receive $2,500 and a trophy.
Stein won for a selection of editorial cartoons commenting
on the shootings at Columbine High School. Judges said: "Ed
Stein's sensitive, heartfelt cartoons. . .are as powerful
and moving as any image or story from that tragedy."
Finalist: Russ Wallace, The Charleston
(W. Va.) Gazette
DISTINGUISHED SERVICE TO LITERACY (Two
winners)
Sonia Gutierrez, Carlos Rosario International Career Center,
Washington, D.C., and the Naples (Fla.) Daily News. Gutierrez
and the newspaper will each receive $2,500, the Charles
E. Scripps Award trophy and a $5,000 donation from the Scripps
Howard Foundation to the literacy group of their choice.
Guiterrez won for her work with adult immigrant students.
Judges said: "Sonia Guiterrez has been more than a
teacher to the 50,000 adult immigrant students who have
been served by the Carlos Rosario International Career Center
and Public Charter School. She has been their friend, their
advocate, their organizer, their counselor and their mother."
The Naples Daily News won for its "Florida Reads" program,
a solution-oriented approach to literacy that is being used
statewide. Judges said: "This entry exemplifies the
sweeping impact a newspaper can have to meet a community
challenge and affect change."
DISTINGUISHED SERVICE TO THE FIRST AMENDMENT
The Knoxville (Tenn.) News-Sentinel. The newspaper
will receive $2,500 and the Edward Willis Scripps Award
trophy.
The News-Sentinel won for its two-and-a-half-year battle
to ensure public access to taxpayer-funded criminal proceedings.
Judges said: "It is the classic and aggressive practice
of journalism that makes this entry extraordinary. As a
result of the newspaper. s courage, the Tennessee legislature
broadened the state's open records laws."
Finalist: New Mexico Foundation for Open
Government, Albuquerque, N.M.
PHOTOJOURNALISM
George Kochaniec Jr., Denver Rocky Mountain News. Kochaniec
will receive $2,500 and a trophy.
Kochaniec won for his coverage of the Columbine High School
shootings and other selected entries. Judges said: "In
a sequence of jolting photographs, he conveyed the anguish
of the worst school shooting in U.S. history. The power
and range of his photography make him a worthy winner of
the photojournalism prize for 1999."
Finalist: Dean J. Koepfler, The News Tribune,
Tacoma, Wash.
BUSINESS/ECONOMICS REPORTING
Tom Hallman Jr., The Oregonian, Portland. Hallman
will receive $2,500 and the William Brewster Styles Award
trophy.
Hallman won for his work, "The Player," explaining
the business of mortgaged-backed securities. Judges said. "The
Player is real time, right on top of the volatility of today's
overheated economy and the young people who participate
in it."
Finalist: Jay Hancock, The Baltimore Sun.
JOURNALISTIC EXCELLENCE IN ELECTRONIC MEDIA -
Small Market Radio
High Plains News Service, Billings, Mont. The news
service will receive $2,500 and the Jack R. Howard Award
trophy.
High Plains News Service won for its reporting on the Sioux
Indian community's reaction to an industrial-sized hog farm
that proposed setting set up operations on the reservation.
Judges said: "This well-reported investigative piece
makes a remote part of South Dakota come alive. A balanced
and human report on an often marginalized sub-culture."
Finalist: KOSU-FM, Stillwater, Okla
Large Market Radio
Minnesota Public Radio, St. Paul, Minn. Minnesota
Public Radio will receive $2,500 and the Jack R. Howard
Award trophy.
Minnesota Public Radio won for its examination of the impact
of the AIDS virus on the young. Judges said: "This
documentary has given us new insight into the emotional
and sociological stresses associated with growing up HIV-positive.
We heartily commend this effort."
Small Market TV/Cable
No winner
Large Market TV/Cable
New England Cable News, Newton, Mass. New England Cable
News will receive $2,500 and the Jack R. Howard Award trophy.
New England Cable News won for its documentary on a factory
closing in Maine after 122 years. Judges said: "The
story developed characters the viewer care about and came
to know. This documentary truly put a face and place on
the global economy."
Finalist: NBC News, New York
COLLEGE CARTOONING
Charles M. Schulz Award
Ryan Pagelow, Ohio University, The Post. Pagelow will receive
$2,500 and the Charles M. Schulz Award trophy.
Pagelow won for a collection of his work.
Finalists: Michael Chambers, University
of Maryland at College Park, The Diamondback; Patrick O.
Connor, Kent State University, Daily Kent Stater; and Charlie
Zimkus, Miami University, The Miami Student.
PUBLIC SERVICE REPORTING - Over 100,000
circulation
Chicago Tribune (Ken Armstrong, Maurice Possley, Steve Mills.)
The newspaper will receive $2,500 and the Roy W. Howard
Award trophy.
The Chicago Tribune won for an investigative series on the
justice system, focusing on capital cases. Judges said: "(The
Chicago Tribune's reporters) exposed the legal system to
scrutiny, the likes of which it had never experienced, especially
in capital cases. In so doing, the Tribune performed a profound
service for its state and the nation."
Finalists: Jim Haner, The Baltimore Sun;
Newsday, Melville, N.Y.
PUBLIC SERVICE REPORTING - Under 100,000
circulation
Colorado Daily, Boulder, Colo. The newspaper will receive
$2,500 and the Roy W. Howard Award trophy.
Colorado Daily won for its scrutiny of a publicly funded
project at the University of Colorado. Judges said: "The
effort embodies what public service by a newspaper is and
what persistence it often requires."
Finalist: The Daily Reflector, Greenville,
N.C.
Dedicated to excellence in journalism, the Scripps Howard
Foundation is a leader in industry efforts in journalism
education, scholarships, internships, literacy, minority
recruitment/development and First Amendment causes.
Contact: Patty Cottingham, Scripps Howard Foundation, 513-977-3847, cottingham@scripps.com