Scripps Howard Awards Honor Nation’s Best 2010 Journalism

CINCINNATI, March 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Scripps Howard Foundation today announced the winners of its annual Scripps Howard Awards, honoring the best work in the communications industry and journalism education in 2010.

Established in 1953, the Scripps Howard Foundation National Journalism Awards competition is open to U.S. news organizations and recognizes outstanding print, broadcast and online journalism in 16 categories. Two additional categories honor college journalism and mass communication educators for excellence in administration and teaching.

Winners will be honored May 3 at a dinner hosted by the Scripps Howard Foundation and its corporate founder, The E.W. Scripps Company, at the Duke Energy Convention Center in Cincinnati. The winners will receive a total of $185,000 in the 18 categories.

"This year's winners have improved lives, given hope, held officials and institutions accountable and typically informed, entertained or enlightened their audiences with skillfully presented work across multiple platforms," said Mike Philipps, president and CEO of the Scripps Howard Foundation. "We are proud to honor them in the hometown of our corporate headquarters; Scripps television station, WCPO-Channel 9; and the company's local news website, kypost.com."

Selected by industry experts, the 2010 Scripps Howard Awards winners are:

INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING

Marshall Allen and Alex Richards receive the $15,000 Ursula and Gilbert Farfel Prize, given in cooperation with Ohio University's Scripps College of Communication and the Farfel Endowment, for their Las Vegas Sun series "Do No Harm: Hospital Care in Las Vegas," which lifted the veil of secrecy around widespread medical errors and infections contracted at local hospitals.

Finalists: Walt Bogdanich, The New York Times, for "The Radiation Boom;" and Dana Priest and William M. Arkin, The Washington Post, for "Top Secret America"

BREAKING NEWS

CNBC receives $10,000 and a trophy for "The New GM," Nov. 18 coverage of General Motors' return as a public company with the largest public stock offering in U.S. history.

Finalists: CNBC for "Flash Crash;" and The Providence (R.I.) Journal

PUBLIC SERVICE REPORTING

The Los Angeles Times receives $10,000 and the Roy W. Howard Award for "Grading the Teachers," a series by Jason Felch, Jason Song, Doug Smith, Sandra Poindexter and Ken Schwencke that used Los Angeles Unified School District data to identify the most effective – and least effective – teachers and schools.

Finalists: The Arizona Republic, Phoenix, for "Arizona's Immigration Debate;" and Alan Schwarz, The New York Times

EDITORIAL WRITING

Linda Valdez of The Arizona Republic, Phoenix, receives $10,000 and the Walker Stone Award for editorials that made a case for comprehensive immigration reform as anti-immigration fever erupted in Arizona.

Finalists: Peter Canellos and Dante Ramos, The Boston Globe; and Jamie Lucke, Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader

COMMENTARY

Laurie Roberts of The Arizona Republic, Phoenix, receives $10,000 and a trophy for prompting the Arizona Legislature to consider probate court reforms and calling into question the federal government's longstanding inaction on immigration policy.

Finalists: James Carroll, The Boston Globe; and Froma Harrop, The Providence (R.I.) Journal

HUMAN INTEREST WRITING

Wright Thompson of ESPN.com receives $10,000 and the Ernie Pyle Award for stories that linked sports figures to some of the year's top national and international headlines.

Finalists: Maria Sacchetti, The Boston Globe; and Faye Fiore, Los Angeles Times

ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTING

The Times-Picayune in New Orleans receives $10,000 and the Edward J. Meeman Award for ongoing in-depth coverage of the BP oil disaster and its wide-ranging impacts on the Gulf of Mexico and the economy and culture of Louisiana.

Finalists: Michael Hawthorne, Chicago Tribune; and Oregon Public Broadcasting staff members Michael Bendixen, Nick Fisher, Vince Patton, Todd Sonflieth and Lisa Suinn Kallem

WASHINGTON REPORTING

Adam Liptak of The New York Times receives $10,000 and the Raymond Clapper Award for "The Roberts Court," coverage and analysis of the U.S. Supreme Court's first five years under Chief Justice John Roberts.

Finalists: Andrew Schneider, AOL News, for "The Nanotech Gamble;" and Thomas Hargrove and Jason Bartz, Scripps Howard News Service, for "Murder Mysteries"

EDITORIAL CARTOONING

Mike Thompson of the Detroit Free Press receives $10,000 and a trophy for visual commentary presented as traditional editorial cartoons and through animation and interactivity.

Finalists: Ted Rall, Los Angeles Times; and Stephen P. Breen, The San Diego Union-Tribune

PHOTOJOURNALISM

Lisa Krantz of the San Antonio Express-News receives $10,000 and a trophy for a body of work that chronicled what was to have been an under-achieving high school's last year of operation.

Finalists: Damon Winter, The New York Times; and Adrees Latif, Reuters

BUSINESS/ECONOMICS REPORTING

Paige St. John of the Sarasota ( Fla.) Herald-Tribune receives $10,000 and the William Brewster Styles Award for an investigation that uncovered widespread abuse and deception in the failing property insurance market.

Finalists: Binyamin Appelbaum and Ben Hallman, The Center for Public Integrity, for "Betting on Justice," a collaborative effort with The New York Times; and Robert O'Harrow Jr., The Washington Post

COMMUNITY JOURNALISM

<p>Tracy Loew of the Statesman Journal, Salem, Ore., receives $10,000 and a trophy for "WESD's Web of Deals," a 16-month investigation of widespread mismanagement during the past 10 years in the Willamette Education Service District.

Finalists: Will Doolittle, The Post-Star, Glens Falls, N.Y., for "Showdown at Black Brook;" and Samantha Swindler and Adam Sulfridge, The Times-Tribune, Corbin, Ky.

RADIO IN-DEPTH REPORTING

Laura Sullivan and Steve Drummond of National Public Radio receive $10,000 and the Jack R. Howard Award for "Bonding for Profit," which exposed inequities in the criminal justice system that penalize the poor and benefit the bail bond industry.

Finalists: Joseph Shapiro and Susanne Reber, National Public Radio, for "Seeking Justice for Campus Rapes;" and WBEZ-FM, Chicago, for "Inside and Out"

TELEVISION/CABLE IN-DEPTH REPORTING

WFAA-TV, Dallas, receives $10,000 and the Jack R. Howard Award for "Grounds for Removal," a series by Brett Shipp, Mark Smith and Billy Bryant that revealed lax governmental oversight of the nation's largest statewide natural gas pipeline system.

Finalists: CNBC for "Remington Under Fire;" and Jodie Fleischer, Sonya King and Josh Wade, WSB-TV, Atlanta, for "Stealing Houses"

FIRST AMENDMENT

The Burlington (Vt.) Free Press receives $10,000 and a trophy for its aggressive editorial stance that made open government a paramount issue in the 2010 elections and spurred reforms.

Finalists: Sydney P. Freedberg and Kris Hundley, St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times; and Dana Priest and William M. Arkin, The Washington Post, for "Top Secret America"

COLLEGE CARTOONIST

John Vestevich of Ferris State Torch at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Mich., receives $10,000 and the Charles M. Schulz Award for humorous commentary through traditional editorial cartoons.

Finalists: David Zaleski, Los Angeles Loyolan Newspaper, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles; and Mike Diliberto, The Journal, Webster University, St. Louis, Mo.

"The Scripps Howard Foundation is also proud to honor two of the nation's finest journalism and mass communication educators," said Philipps. "Their dedication to the next generation of professionals is an inspiration to us all."

The following awards will be presented Aug. 10 in cooperation with the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication at the opening session of the annual AEJMC convention in St. Louis:

JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION TEACHER OF THE YEAR

Joe Saltzman, who teaches journalism and directs the Image of the Journalist in Popular Culture, a project of the Norman Lear Center at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, receives $10,000 and the Charles E. Scripps Award.

Finalists: Steve Helle, Department of Journalism, University of Illinois; and Caryl Rivers, Department of Journalism, Boston University

JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION ADMINISTRATOR OF THE YEAR

Paul Parsons, dean of the School of Communications at Elon University in Elon, N.C., receives $10,000 and the Charles E. Scripps Award.

No finalist named in this category.

An awards program book and video featuring the winners and their work will be available online at www.scripps.com/foundation after the May 3 presentations. A printed copy may also be requested by emailing Debbie Schneider at debbie.schneider@scripps.com.

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.

The E.W. Scripps Company is a diverse, 132-year-old media enterprise with interests in television stations, newspapers, local news and information websites and feature syndication. For a full listing of Scripps media companies and their associated websites, visit http://www.scripps.com/.

SOURCE The E.W. Scripps Company