From Our Archive
Feb. 20, 1998
Scripps
Howard Foundation announces
National Journalism Award winners
CINCINNATI -- The Scripps Howard Foundation today
announced the winners of its National Journalism
Awards.
Six newspapers, two
broadcast television stations, two radio news organizations
and seven individuals are being recognized for excellence in
categories including editorial writing, human interest
writing, environmental and public service reporting,
commentary, photojournalism, electronic journalism and
cartooning.
Four of the awards,
including the first in the competition's history to a
non-journalist, recognize distinguished service to literacy
and the First Amendment.
Cash awards
totaling $52,500 will be presented during a ceremony March 26
in Knoxville, Tenn., home of The Knoxville News-Sentinel, Home
& Garden Television and Cinetel Productions, all owned by
The E.W. Scripps Company.
"The winners of the
National Journalism Awards represent the best of our
profession," said Judith G. Clabes, president and CEO of the
Scripps Howard Foundation. "They exemplify the highest caliber
of reporting and public service, and provide proof through
their excellent efforts of what is right with journalism
today."
William R.
Burleigh, president and CEO of The E.W. Scripps Company,
praised the winners for being "bulwarks of this nation's
unique commitment to a free press." "Without such hardworking
and impassioned print and electronic journalists, there is no
free press," Burleigh said. "Their steadfast dedication to
journalistic excellence and integrity is a profound
contribution to the communities they serve. We at Scripps
offer them our sincerest congratulations and our deepest
thanks."
The winners are:
EDITORIAL
WRITING
Daniel P. Henninger, The
Wall Street Journal
Henninger will
receive $2,500 and the Walker Stone Award trophy. Henninger is
described by The Wall Street Journal as its pre-eminent
wordsmith. He won for his editorials on a range of issues,
including the International Monetary Fund, presidential
politics and cloning.
Judges said: "Dan
Henninger's powerful voice for morality in government and
society stands out from a group of remarkable editorial
writers. His gifts are clarity, grace, humor and an ability to
provoke."
HUMAN INTEREST
WRITING
John Balzar, Los Angeles
Times
Balzar will receive
$2,500 and the Ernie Pyle Award trophy.
Balzar won for his
masterful stories of adventure - of mushing dogs across
Alaska; of placing fifth in a boat race from Los Angeles to
Honolulu; and of an 80-year-old rapids runner's last ride
through the Grand Canyon.
Judges said: "In
the same way that Ernie Pyle brought his readers to the front
lines of World War II, John Balzar has transported his readers
to the frontiers of action and adventure."
ENVIRONMENTAL
REPORTING - Over 100,000 circulation
The Sacramento (Calif.)
Bee (Tom Knudson, Nancy Vogel)
The newspaper will
receive $2,500 and the Edward J. Meeman Award trophy.
In a five-part series, "The Gathering Storm," reporters
Tom Knudson and Nancy Vogel, uncovered the gulf between flood
prevention planning and record high spending on federal flood
relief.
Judges said: "The
Bee deserves credit for alerting us to the long-term
consequences of short-term decisions. Their series on flooding
portends a national crisis."
ENVIRONMENTAL
REPORTING - Under 100,000 circulation
Cape Cod Times, Hyannis,
Mass. (William Mills, Anne Brennan, Alicia Blaisdell-Bannon)
The newspaper will
receive $2,500 and the Edward J. Meeman Award trophy.
The Cape Cod Times won for its six-part series, "Broken
Trust: The Failed Cleanup at the Massachusetts Military
Reservation." The series uncovered mismanagement in the clean
up of a 22,000-acre federal Superfund site.
Judges said: "This entry is a rare combination of
explanatory, investigative and civic journalism. It taught. It
blamed. It searched for solutions."
PUBLIC SERVICE
REPORTING - Over 100,000 circulation
Asbury Park Press,
Neptune, N.J.
The newspaper will
receive $2,500 and the Roy W. Howard Award trophy.
Asbury Park Press won for its comprehensive "What Ails
Asbury Park," a series of articles that uncovered land scams,
greed, high crime, corruption, crumbling buildings, political
apathy, poverty and disaffected youth.
Judges said: "This
tenacious effort, chock-full of serious, aggressive reporting
and devoid of trendy gimmicks, shows how the practice of good
newspapering today is as it always has been: in the trenches,
oblivious to pressures of civic groups and advertisers."
PUBLIC SERVICE
REPORTING - Under 100,000 circulation
Pensacola
(Fla.) News Journal The newspaper will receive
$2,500 and the Roy W. Howard Award trophy.
With meticulous
care, persistence and courage, The Pensacola News Journal
examined the religious movement known as The Brownsville
Revival with a series of stories labeled "The Money and the
Myth." The newspaper focused on painstakingly gathered facts
and avoided ridicule of the belief of adherents.
Judges said: "Using all the techniques of clear,
expository journalism, the News Journal took its readers
inside one of the nation's largest revival movements."
COMMENTARY
Donald
Kaul, The Des Moines (Iowa) Register
Kaul will receive
$2,500 and a trophy.
Kaul won for
columns that are clear and mordant, wide-ranging and reliably
unpredictable. His columns are filled with surprising twists
and memorable phrases.
Judges said: "He's
a craftsman with languages and a wit attractive even when you
don't agree."
PHOTOJOURNALISM
Martha Rial, Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette
Rial will receive
$2,500 and a trophy. Martha Rial submitted a stunning
portfolio of arresting portraits.
Judges said: "This
photojournalist's impeccable feel for composition, coupled
with her compassion and sense of irony, yields unforgettable
images."
COLLEGE
CARTOONIST
Brian Fairrington, Arizona
State University
Fairrington will
receive $2,500 and the Charles M. Schulz Award trophy.
Fairrington won for 15 political cartoons that dealt
with campus, national and international issues. He took on
some of the headier issues on campuses of the 1990s, including
date rape, binge drinking and campus security.
Judges said: "These are tough issues and it's good to
see a young person grappling with them. Plus, his artistic
style is very polished for someone at his stage of
development."
DISTINGUISHED
SERVICE TO LITERACY (Two winners)
The Knoxville
News-Sentinel
Betty J. Frey,
Tucson Adult Literacy Volunteers Inc.
The newspaper and
Frey each will 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.
Judges said of The News-Sentinel: "For the past 13
years, the employees of The Knoxville News-Sentinel have
promoted reading and writing by devoting countless hours and
many dollars to literacy organizations in East Tennessee. The
outside work comes on top of a continuing commitment to
literacy within the pages of The News-Sentinel."
Judges said of Betty Frey: "A four-decade dedication to
literacy has proven that a single caring individual can make a
huge difference to many thousands of people. Literacy is the
key to learning. Betty Frey, now in her 84th year, has
selflessly dedicated herself to providing that key."
DISTINGUISHED SERVICE TO THE FIRST AMENDMENT
(Two winners)
Jeff Montgomery,
The News Journal, Dover, Del. The Palm Beach Post (Pat Moore,
Jennifer Peltz, Jenny Staletovich, and Stephanie Desmon)
Montgomery and The Palm Beach Post each will receive
$2,500, the Edward Willis Scripps Award trophy and an
invitation to deliver the First Amendment lecture at the E.W.
Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University, where
permanent recognition of the recipients will be displayed.
Montgomery provided an in-depth examination of the
Delaware Department of Transportation's land leasing practices
that showed inefficiency, inside-dealing and waste.
Judges said: "The series reminds us of the importance
of keeping open these most public of public records."
The Palm Beach Post won for a series of articles that
revealed that politicians in three counties were routinely
violating Florida's Sunshine Law.
Judges said: "A
compelling package clearly and neatly presented, conveying the
importance of monitoring open government on the local level."
JOURNALISTIC EXCELLENCE IN ELECTRONIC MEDIA
- Large market
television/cable
WABC-TV, New York,
N.Y.
The station will receive $2,500 and the Jack R. Howard
Award trophy.
WABC-TV won for its
half-hour documentary, "Room 104 - The Overcrowding Crisis."
The documentary exposed the seriousness of classroom
overcrowding by spending the school year with a first grade
class in a Brooklyn public school.
Judges said: "That
the school system moved quickly to expand the school and
shrink classes proves that good investigative reporting can
make a difference."
Small market
television/cable
WANE-TV, Fort Wayne, Ind.
The station will
receive $2,500 and the Jack R. Howard Award trophy.
WANE-TV won for an exclusive interview with a death row
inmate whose powerful anti-drug message is being used by
police, schools, counselors and parents in several states.
Judges said: "An outstanding example of how good
television news can be when it covers a story in depth."
Large market radio
Westwood One - Mutual/NBC,
Arlington, Va.
The network will
receive $2,500 and the Jack R. Howard Award trophy.
The network won for "Lessons of Little Rock," its
then-and-now look at the Brown vs. The Board of Education
Supreme Court decision.
Judges said:
"Westwood One-Mutual/NBC let us hear the adversaries then, of
course, but also now, 40 years after their confrontation. Some
of the recent comments are troubling. All are compelling."
Small market radio
Alabama Public Radio,
Tuscaloosa, Ala.
The station will
receive $2,500 and the Jack R. Howard Award trophy.
The station won for its balanced, in-depth report on
the clash between the residents of Tennessee and North
Carolina over the health of the Pigeon River. "Alabama Public
Radio gave life to what could have been a mundane legal
story.''
FINALISTS AND
JUDGES EDITORIAL WRITING FINALISTS: Erik Lukens, The
Trentonian, Trenton, N.J.; Larry Dale Keeling, Lexington (Ky.)
Herald-Leader
JUDGES: Cynthia
Tucker, editorial page editor, Atlanta Constitution; Richard
Oppel, editor, Austin (Texas) American-Statesman; and Edward
Seaton, publisher and editor, The Manhattan (N.Y.) Mercury.
HUMAN INTEREST
WRITING FINALIST: Ken Fuson, The Baltimore Sun
JUDGES: Tim J.
McGuire, editor/senior vice president of new media,
Star-Tribune, Minneapolis; Colleen Conant, vice
president/executive editor, Daily Camera, Boulder, Colo.; Stan
Tiner, editor/vice president for news, Mobile (Ala.) Register;
and Morris Thompson, editorial page editor, Philadelphia Daily
News.
ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTING FINALISTS: Duff Wilson, The
Seattle Times; Dieter Bradbury, Portland (Maine.) Press Herald
JUDGES: Timothy J. Gallagher, editor, Ventura
(Calilf.) County Star; Madelyn Ross, managing editor,
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; and Thomas H. Greer, vice
president/senior editor, The Plain Dealer, Cleveland.
PUBLIC SERVICE REPORTING FINALISTS: Will Englund and
Gary Cohn, The Baltimore Sun; Mike McGraw, Karen Dillon, Steve
Rock, and Greg Reeves, The Kansas City (Mo.) Star; and Kevin
Corcoran, The Times, Hammond, Ind.
JUDGES: Louis D.
Boccardi, president and CEO, The Associated Press; Robert
Burdick, editor and vice president, Rocky Mountain News,
Denver; Tim Kelly, president and publisher, The Lexington
(Ky.) Herald-Leader; and Jane Healy, managing editor, The
Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel.
COMMENTARY
FINALIST: Cynthia Tucker, Atlanta Constitution JUDGES: Reid
Ashe, publisher, Tampa (Fla.) Tribune; Angus McEachran, editor
and president, The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn.; Jennie
Buckner, editor The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer.
PHOTOJOURNALISM FINALIST: Susan Watts, New York Daily
News
JUDGES: Jane E. Kirtley, executive director, The
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press; Merv Aubespin,
associate editor, The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.;
Anthony Marro, editor/executive vice president, Newsday, New
York.
COLLEGE
CARTOONIST FINALISTS: Darrin Bell, University of California,
Berkeley; Drew Sheneman, Central Michigan University; Scott
Schmidt, University of Missouri JUDGES: Lucy Caswell,
associate professor and curator, Cartoon Research Library, The
Ohio State University; Al Roker, weather and feature reporter,
NBC News, The Today Show; Charles M. Schulz, creator of
PEANUTS.
EXCELLENCE IN ELECTRONIC JOURNALISM - TV/CABLE/RADIO
FINALISTS: None
JUDGES: Eric Ober, president and CEO,
Cinetel Productions; Harry A. Jessell, executive editor,
Broadcasting & Cable; Nick Clooney, columnist, The
Cincinnati Post, host for American Movie Classics. Kirtley,
Aubespin and Marro also served as judges for the Distinguished
Service to the First Amendment category. Ober, Jessell and
Clooney also served as judges for the Distinguished Service to
Literacy category.
Dedicated to excellence in
journalism, the Scripps Howard Foundation is a leader in
industry efforts in journalism, education, scholarships,
literacy, minority recruitment/development and First Amendment
causes.
Contact: Patty Cottingham, Scripps Howard Foundation, 513-977-3847, cottingham@scripps.com