Archives for July 2010

Worth Bingham Prize for Investigative Journalism (Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard)

The Worth Bingham Prize honors investigative reporting of stories of national significance where the public interest is being ill-served.

These stories may involve state, local or national government, lobbyists or the press itself wherever there exists an “atmosphere of easy tolerance” that Worth Bingham himself once described in his reporting on the nation’s capital.

The investigative reporting may cover actual violations of the law, rule or code; lax or ineffective administration or enforcement; or activities which create conflicts of interest, entail excessive secrecy or otherwise raise questions of propriety.

Judges will be guided by such factors as obstacles overcome in getting information, accuracy, clarity of analysis and writing style, magnitude of the situation, and impact on the public, including any reforms that may have resulted.

The Ridenhour Prizes

The annual Ridenhour Prizes [given by The Nation Institute and the Fertel Foundation] recognize those who persevere in acts of truth-telling that protect the public interest, promote social justice or illuminate a more just vision of society. These prizes memorialize the spirit of fearless truth-telling that whistleblower and investigative journalist Ron Ridenhour reflected throughout his extraordinary life and career.

About Ron Ridenhour: In 1969, Vietnam veteran Ron Ridenhour wrote a letter to Congress and the Pentagon describing the horrific events at My Lai – the infamous massacre of the Vietnam War – bringing the scandal to the attention of the American public and the world.

Ridenhour later became a respected investigative journalist, winning the George Polk Award for Investigative Journalism in 1987 for a year-long investigation of a New Orleans tax scandal. He died suddenly in 1998 at the age of 52. At the time of his death, he was working on a piece for the London Review of Books, had co-produced a story on militias for NBC’s Dateline and had just delivered a series of lectures commemorating the thirtieth anniversary of My Lai.

Read the letter that Ron Ridenhour wrote to Congress and the Pentagon:

The Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism

The Martha Gellhorn Prize is given in honour of one of the 20th century’s greatest reporters. It is awarded to a journalist whose work has penetrated the established version of events and told an unpalatable truth, validated by powerful facts that expose establishment propaganda, or ‘official drivel’, as Martha Gellhorn called it.

Martha Gellhorn was one of the most experienced and distinguished journalists of the 20th century. In the 1930s she travelled across the US for the Roosevelt Administration reporting on the effects of the Depression. Later she used her research for The Trouble I’ve Seen, a book of four novellas about the American poor. With world war looming, she chronicled the rise of fascism in Europe for Collier’s magazine: her reports on the Spanish Civil War are among the best dispatches from Spain at the time. After 1939 she covered several key military confrontations in Western Europe, including Monte Cassino and the Battle of the Bulge. In June 1944, she stowed away on a hospital ship to report on the D-Day landings and entered Dachau with American troops in May 1945. In 1966 she covered the war in Vietnam with a series of six dispatches for The Guardian. The authorities later refused her accreditation to work in South Vietnam. In the 1980s she travelled in Central America, writing about the wars in El Salvador and Nicaragua. A few years later she published a report from Panama in the wake of the US invasion. Her last long piece of reportage, written shortly before she died, was about street children in Brazil. She was the author of several novels and collections of short stories. Her war reportage can be read in The Face of War. The View from the Ground, a collection of her other journalism, was published in 1988.

Taylor Family Award for Fairness in Newspapers (Administered by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard)

The Taylor Family Award for Fairness in Newspapers was established by members of the Taylor family, who published The Boston Globe from 1872 to 1999. The purpose of the…award is to encourage fairness in news coverage by America’s daily newspapers. William O. Taylor, chairman emeritus of the Globe, embraced the idea of an award for fairness in newspapers as a way to give something back to the craft to which five generations of his family devoted their working lives. The Taylor family’s 127-year stewardship of the Globe was characterized by an enduring commitment to fairness. At his invitation, the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard agreed to administer the prize.

Selden Ring Award for Investigative Reporting (USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism)

Walter Lippmann knew that powerful politicians, big business, and other institutions in our society could create perceptions that people might mistake for reality. That is why, especially today, we need tenacious investigative journalists to pierce the veil of misleading, and often deceptive, information to reveal the truth.

The Selden Ring Award is a jewel of recognition for top journalists. The…award recognizes published investigative reporting that has brought results.

James Aronson Awards for Social Justice Journalism

The James Aronson Awards for Social Justice Journalism honor original, written reporting that brings to light widespread injustices, their human consequences, underlying causes, and possible reforms. This includes exposing discrimination based on race, class, gender, religion or sexual orientation; economic exploitation; violations of human rights, civil liberties or free expression; environmental degradation; and brutality to civilians in war.

The awards recognize work published in English in newspapers, magazines, newsletters and text-based online publications based in the U.S. We are particularly interested in reporting with the potential to foster systemic change or to help bring those who abuse their power to justice. A separate prize, the Grambs Aronson Cartooning with a Conscience Award, recognizes the achievements of political cartoonists whose work focuses on social issues.

The Award is administered by the Hunter College Department of Film & Media Studies and an Awards Committee of journalists and media critics. The Award is presented each spring at Hunter College of the City University of New York.

Izzy Award

The Izzy Award is named after maverick journalist I. F. Stone, who launched I. F. Stone’s Weekly in 1953 and exposed government deception, McCarthyism, and racial bigotry. Presented by the Park Center for Independent Media annually for “outstanding achievement in independent media,” the Izzy Award goes to an independent outlet, journalist, or producer for contributions to our culture, politics, or journalism created outside traditional corporate structures.

Investigative Reporters & Editors (IRE) Awards

Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. is a grassroots nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of investigative reporting. IRE was formed in 1975 to create a forum in which journalists throughout the world could help each other by sharing story ideas, news gathering techniques and news sources.

The IRE Awards recognize “the best in investigative reporting by print, broadcast and online media.

After judging, all entries are placed in IRE’s Resource Center story library so that IRE members may learn from others’ triumphs and troubles. The contest helps identify techniques and resources used by the entrants.

The awards recognize outstanding investigative work in several categories. The top award given is the IRE Medal.

One of the defining characteristics of good investigative reporting eligible for an IRE Award is that it uncovers information that others have tried to keep hidden.

I. F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence (Administered by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard and the Nieman Watchdog Project)

Established in 2008, the I.F. Stone Medal recognizes journalistic independence and honors the life of investigative journalist I.F. Stone. The award is presented annually to a journalist whose work captures the spirit of independence, integrity, courage and indefatigability that characterized I.F. Stone’s Weekly, published 1953-1971.

The University of Florida Award for Investigative Data Journalism (Administered by the Online News Association)

This award, made possible by the estate of Lorraine Dingman, honors work that best features and presents data journalism on digital and mobile platforms. The award will focus on the effectiveness of the data to tell a story, how well the data are presented to users, the journalistic impact and relevance of the data, and the design and functionality of the data presentation. Judges will also take into account the difficulty in acquiring the data. Winners will be asked travel to the University of Florida (expenses paid) to lead full-day workshops.