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James L. Martin. "Made in Mexico." Erie Times-News.
Judges' Comments:
In a major effort, Martin literally follows the outsourcing story to its ultimate destination, the Mexican city where an Erie company moved its factory. The reporter traveled to Mexico, where he discovered new aspects of the story and deflated some myths of outsourcing. Rather than uneducated peasants working repetitive assembly-line jobs, the reader meets well-trained engineers performing work every bit as sophisticated as their American counterparts. Interviews with those workers and executives of the Erie company give readers a better understanding of why jobs are leaving town, how the migration of companies affects both the United States and Mexico, and how a city like Erie can stay competitive in a global economy.
[4424PR] 0903-PDF (3.2 MB), 0904-PDF (2.7 MB), 0905-PDF (2.8 MB)
Ilene E. Aleshire. "Frank Dulcich."
The Register-Guard (Eugene, Ore.).
Judges' Comments:
A fascinating story about the little-known sultan of seafood in the Pacific Northwest. The story introduces us to Frank Dulcich, a man with outsized influence over the prices fishermen get for their catch, the amount and type of fish available in the market, and the cost of fish at the grocery store. The reporter draws on a range of sources to show how Dulcich elbowed aside rivals, business partners and even family members to build an empire spanning fishing boats, processing and distribution. Clear writing, rich anecdotes and deep reporting set the story apart.
[4618PR] PDF
Richard M. Hogan. "Southwest Florida Real Estate Sellers Beware." Fort Myers News-Press.
Judges' Comments:
An interesting, unique angle on the mortgage meltdown story papers across the country have been covering so aggressively. The story reveals the role of swindlers and con artists in the collapse of real estate prices and rise in foreclosures in southwest Florida.
Combining compelling anecdotes and telling data, it shows both the human and economic impact of the crisis sweeping the region and the country. Crisp writing and good pacing keep the reader engaged through a thorough examination of the causes and consequences of events that affect everyone.
[4674PR]
PDF1-A01, PDF1-A10, PDF1-A11 (2.4 MB)
PDF2-A01, PDF2-A02
Greg Stricharchuk - Chicago Tribune
Mark Tatge - Forbes
Joe Cahill - Crain's Chicago Business
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Lee Rood, Lynn Hicks, Philip Brasher, Paula Lavigne, Jerry Perkins, Perry Beeman, Jon Benedict, Jeff Bruner, Suzanne Behnke and Don Tormey. "Fueling Iowa's Future." The Des Moines Register.
Judges' Comments:
This series is a comprehensive examination of all angles of the biofuels industry and how it may affect Iowa, good or bad. It is a terrific example of a newspaper that dug in its backyard with a determination and a passion that no one else could. The series had unusual depth, and it described the impact of its findings in a way that anyone could understand. The newspaper should be commended for its engaging presentation, too, as well as the graceful way it incorporated the series into its Web site. For example, the series included an interactive database that provided all the public information available about every biofuels plant in Iowa.
[4484PR]
JPG (3.1 MB)
Fueling Iowa's Future
Binyamin Appelbaum, Lisa Hammersly, Ted Mellnik, Peter St. Onge, Stella M. Hopkins, Liz Chandler, Mike Drummond, Pam Kelley, Gary Schwab and Patrick Scott. "Sold a Nightmare." The Charlotte Observer.
Judges' Comments:
A terrific series that very early on identified and explored a central part of the lending crisis that we’re now involved in. The newspaper’s work led to several official investigations. The series, for which reporters knocked on every door in a 400-plus house subdivision built by Beazer Homes, resulted from sound reporting. While the judges would have preferred to see a little more explanation from Beazer Homes and interviews with Beazer mortgage lenders, the series was carried by the power of the central argument – that Beazer built shoddy homes and apparently manipulated applications so that unqualified buyers got stuck with them.
[4694PR] PDF (5.6 MB), JPG
Christine Tierney and Bill Vlasic. "Death of a Merger." Detroit News.
Judges' Comments:
This is a very well written, insider account of how the Daimler-Chrysler merger came undone. It goes on to describe how the dark horse, Cerberus, ended up as the victor for the automaker. The story demonstrated great sourcing and a true sense of storytelling. What’s more, the story was published less than a month after the merger. Any newspaper would be proud to publish this story, but it was a story best told by a Detroit newspaper.
[4796PR]
Pt1-1A-PDF, Pt1-1A-JPG, Pt1-6A-PDF
Pt2-1A-PDF, Pt2-5A-PDF
Charles Crumpley - Los Angeles Business Journal
Steven Kerch - MarketWatch
Marty Schenker - Bloomberg News
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Mike Casey and Rick Montgomery. "Fatal Failures." Kansas City Star.
Judges' Comments:
In "Fatal Failures," a team of experienced reporters and editors detailed the far-too-frequent failure of airbags to inflate during serious accidents - an important issue that's been largely overlooked. The stories are thoroughly reported and compellingly and judiciously written.
[4248PR] PDF (3.6 MB), JPG
Susanne Rust, Meg Kissinger and Cary Spivak. "Chemical Fallout." Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Judges' Comments:
This investigative series lifted the curtain on the U.S. government's failure to follow through on a decade-old requirement to screen thousands of potentially harmful chemicals found in everyday products that manufacturers aggressively peddle to consumers. By identifying the growing concern among scientists; the lack of effective labeling standards in the United States; and the tendency of government advisors to lean toward assessments provided by industry researchers, the series also performed an important service for a public unaware of the gravity of the situation. It was written in a highly accessible, illustrative manner that peeled away the complexity of the issue, and resulted in a fresh review by the National Toxicology Program.
[4364PR]
1A-JPG, 1A-PDF (1.5 MB), 1B-PDF, 1C-PDF (4.1 MB), 1D-PDF, 1E-PDF
2A-PDF, 2B-PDF, 2C-PDF, 2D-PDF
Gargi Chakrabarty. "Ethanol Boom: Kernel to Car." Rocky Mountain News.
Judges' Comments:
This was a fascinating look at the production of ethanol, from bushels of corn grown on a farm in northeastern Colorado to gallons of ethanol ready for cars at a Denver pump. With greater consumer interest in ethanol and other alternative energy sources, this series of stories did an excellent job of explaining the ethanol boom and its bright prospects for the future as well as laying out the downside risks that could lead to a dot-corn bust.
[4492PR]
Pt1.1-PDF (3.2 MB), Pt1.2-PDF (1.3 MB), Pt1.3-PDF (2 MB)
Pt2.1-PDF, Pt2.2-PDF, Pt2.3-PDF
Pt3.1-PDF, Pt3.2-PDF (6.9 MB)
Pt4.1-JPG, Pt4.1-PDF (1.5 MB) Pt4.2-PDF, Pt4.3-PDF
Final.1-PDF, Final.2-PDF
Elizabeth J. Alderman - International Herald Tribune
Alan Murray - The Wall Street Journal
Sally Jacobson - The Associated Press
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Patricia Callahan, Maurice Possley, Michael Oneal, Evan Osnos, Ted Gregory and Sam Roe. "Hidden Hazards." Chicago Tribune.
Judges' Comments:
This series showed strong investigative reporting in the public interest, documenting how children are at risk from unsafe toys and other products all while the federal bureaucracy stands by and does nothing, despite pleas from parents and compelling evidence. The project had four different installments during the year, including looking at the ability of lead-tainted Chinese toys to get into this country despite recalls. It showed true persistence, strong reporting and writing and stayed true to its theme from beginning to end. It is a classic example of a big newspaper using its resources to both be a watchdog and to effect positive change.
[4227PR] JPG-1.1, PDF1-1.1 (1.2 MB), PDF1-1.22 (2.4 MB), PDF1-1.23, PDF2-1.1 (1.2 MB),
PDF2-1.14, PDF2-1.15,
PDF3-1.1 (1.4 MB), PDF3-1.22,
PDF4-1.8 (1.9 MB), PDF4-C1.1 (1.5 MB),
PDF5-1.1 (1.3 MB), PDF5-1.16 (1.4 MB),
PDF6-1.1 (1.6 MB), PDF6-1.26,
PDF7-1.1 (2.7 MB), PDF7-1.17
Walt Bogdanich. "Toxic Pipeline." The New York Times.
Judges' Comments:
Bogdanich's work took him to far corners of the Earth to track down the trail of diethylene glycol, a cheaper and toxic substitute for glycerin used in medicine, which killed more than 100 people in Panama and numerous others around the world. This was highly sophisticated investigative reporting done at home and abroad, filled with jaw-dropping work as he tracked the poison through China, into cough medicine and overseas from there. His reporting led to China banning the product as well as to congressional investigations at home. Bogdanich also tracked fake drugs through Internet pharmacies into the United States. His work, in a three-part series and subsequent stories, is appropriately touted as investigative reporting in the global economy.
[4599PR] JPG1, PDF1 (5.1 MB), PDF2 (3 MB), PDF3 (1.6 MB)
Charles Duhigg. "Golden Opportunities." The New York Times.
Judges' Comments:
Duhigg produced a compelling series of stories on the exploitation of senior citizens in America that has sparked multiple government investigations and congressional inquiries. His wide-ranging series of stories documented how private companies were buying up nursing homes and turning them into profit centers at the expense of care, how some long-term care insurance has become impossible for policyholders to use, and how companies selling to Medicare charge two or three times more than they do individuals. His work represents relentless digging, review of tens of thousands of records, and excellent storytelling.
[4602PR]
PDF1,
PDF2 (1.9 MB),
PDF3 (1.8 MB),
PDF4 (1.3 MB),
PDF5,
PDF6 (2.2 MB)
Caesar Andrews - Detroit Free Press
Peter Bhatia - The Oregonian
Betsy Lumbye - The Fresno Bee
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Christopher Tritto. "Fig." St. Louis Business Journal.
Judges' Comments:
The St. Louis Business Journal exposed Fig, a local company that had seen incredible growth thanks to its Lipodissolve product, as a dangerous company and investment in 2007. Too often, local papers will turn a blind eye to the warts on local success stories and serve as cheerleaders for those companies. These reports took a problem company to task, and did it effectively. This series served investors, the community and earned the St. Louis Business Journal a SABEW Best in Business award.
[4593PR] PDF, JPG
Bryant Switzky, Katharine Grayson, Nancy Kuehn, Eric Johnson and Dirk DeYoung. "Operation Reintegration." The Business Journal (Minneapolis/St. Paul).
Judges' Comments:
If you accept the premise that the purpose of local business papers is to serve local readers, The Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal accomplished that in spades with its series, Operation Reintegration.
The entire country has watched the struggles of Iraq War veterans, but in this series, the paper brought that issue to the Twin Cities, spinning a compelling narrative around the impact the war is having on local businesses and the struggles veterans encountered in returning to their former occupations.
[4667PR] PDF (1.5 MB)
Jeanne Lang Jones and Steve Wilhelm. "Industrial Land." Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle, Wash.).
Judges' Comments:
The Puget Sound Business Journal and Steve Wilhelm did exceptional work in their series on Industrial Land. This series took a local industrial land use trend and weaved it into the national storyline on immigration. The reporting hit on all marks as the information was surprising, fresh, had national implications and most of all, was well written.
[4691PR]
Land rezone efforts spur fear of industrial use loss: Sodo gone?
Lawyer steers millions from abroad: Sodo's dough
Alaska Bldg. to become hotel under $85M plan: Sodo fund moves north
Green Card program expanding beyond Sodo: Invest, and get a visa
George Moriarty - TheStreet.com
Adam Bryant - New York Times
David Lyons - Daily Business Review (Miami)
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David Dietz, Gary Cohn and Darrell Preston. "The Insurance Hoax." Bloomberg News.
Judges' Comments:
This was outstanding journalism that stood out through and through. The reporters weaved great anecdotes and in-depth research into a series of well-written articles. This was true "gotcha" journalism that provided a tremendous public service. It was A+ material.
[4165PR]
Table of Contents
Pt1-PDF, Pt1S1-PDF, Pt1S2-PDF, Pt1S3-PDF
Pt2-PDF, Pt2S1-PDF, Pt2S2-PDF, Pt2S3-PDF
Trif Alatzas - The Baltimore Sun
Scott Nelson - The Oregonian
Philip Nussel - Crain's Automotive News
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