Dayton Daily News was finalist for Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting for exposing assaults against Peace Corps volunteers and the agency's attempt to conceal its knowledge of the abuses
New York Times and Frontline win investigative reporting prize
The Associated Press
3/18/04 8:58 AM
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) -- The New York Times and the PBS documentary news show Frontline have been awarded the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting for their joint report into deficiencies in workplace safety.
The report, called "Dangerous Business," found that hundreds of workers have died after employers willfully disregarded basic safety rules.
The report prompted a criminal investigation that led to indictments. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration also announced steps to strengthen the oversight and punishment of persistent violators.
The $25,000 award was announced by the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Members of The New York Times and Frontline team include David Barstow, Lowell Bergman and David Rummel.
The Goldsmith Prize was created in 1991 to honor journalism that promotes better government and public policy by exposing abuses or highlighting particularly effective government actions.
The five finalists for the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting were:
-- Russell Carollo and Mei-Ling Hopgood, of The Dayton Daily News in Ohio for exposing assaults against Peace Corps volunteers and the agency's attempt to conceal its knowledge of the abuses.
-- Gannett New Jersey Newspapers for exposing how some New Jersey Legislators abused their power to benefit family and friends.
-- Chuck Neubauer, Richard T. Cooper and Judy Pasternak of The Los Angeles Times for a report on how some U.S. Senators abused special interest groups to accrue hundreds of thousands of dollars for relatives acting as lobbyists and consultants.
-- Joe Stephens and David B. Ottaway of The Washington Post for exposing wayward practices by The Nature Conservancy, the nation's largest private environmental group.
-- Phil Williams and Bryan Staples of WTVF-TV, Nashville, Tenn., for a report on the unethical conduct of many state officials, including the then-president of the University of Tennessee.
Each of the finalist teams will receive a $2,000 prize.
The Goldsmith Book Prizes were awarded to Scott L. Althaus for "Collective Preferences in Democratic Politics: Opinion Surveys and the Will of the People," Paul M. Kellstedt for "The Mass Media and the Dynamics of American Racial Attitudes" and Bill Katovsky and Timothy Carlson for "Embedded: The Media at War in Iraq."
The Goldsmith Book Prize is awarded to the best academic and trade books that examine the role of the press and politics in the formation of public policy.
The Goldsmith Career Award for Excellence in Journalism was given to Linda Greenhouse, Supreme Court correspondent of The New York Times.
