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The Wall Street Journal's rich portrait of
elderly parents struggling to care for their developmentally disabled
adult children; the San Francisco Chronicle's moving photographs
of an Iraqi boy's
lengthy treatment at a California hospital for critical wounds suffered in the Iraq war;
the Chicago Tribune's
portfolio of incisive editorials about various child, family and
education issues; and a disturbing report on NPR about foster children
in New Jersey were among the winning stories in the 2005 Casey Medals
for Meritorious Journalism contest.
Other media organizations winning top honors in the
11th annual contest were Legal Affairs magazine; The Virginian-Pilot,
Norfolk; the Anchorage Daily News; The Post-Standard,
Syracuse, N.Y.; the Missoulian, Missoula, Mont.; the Omaha
World-Herald; the East Bay Express, Emeryville, Calif.;
and WTHR-TV in Indianapolis.
Winners will receive a Casey Medal and a $1,000 award
at a ceremony at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on
Sept. 23, 2005. Entries for the 2006 Casey Medals for Meritorious Journalism are due by March 1, 2006.
"Frayed
Lifeline"
Ansberry examines long-term home care for developmentally disabled
adults through an intimate profile of an 84-year-old man and his
49-year-old autistic son; a thorough look at disparities in state
and local spending on the families; and an in-depth piece about
how deinstitutionalizing disabled patients has impacted paid caregivers.
The stories inspire and alarm with their original, probing look
at a largely hidden population. They bring to mind the phrase "tender
mercies."
Runner-up: Peter G. Gosselin, Los
Angeles Times, "The
New Deal." Gosselin uses painstaking reporting and elegant
writing to explain how most families lead more volatile economic
lives than reflected by conventional measures.
Honorable mention: Stephanie Banchero,
Chicago Tribune, "No
Child Left Behind." By focusing on how the federal No Child
Left Behind law affects one child, Banchero lifts the story from
the routine to the exceptional and humanizes the complex, controversial
topic.
"Our
Dead Children"
The reporters take an old subject and create a riveting account of one child's deadly journey through a child welfare system that repeatedly failed her. After the newspaper went to court to obtain records, the reporters compiled a series filled with remarkable detail and evocative writing.
Runner-up: Michael Marizco, Arizona
Daily Star, "Smuggling
Children." Marizco writes about a mother who paid to have
her two young sons smuggled across the U.S.-Mexican border. Amazing
storytelling and access to a shadow world set this series apart.
Honorable mention: Jean Rimbach
and Leslie Brody, The Record, Hackensack, N.J., "Preschools
Squander Tax Dollars." The reporters effectively use a time-honored
"follow the money" formula to find out how New Jersey was spending
-- and misspending -- tax dollars on preschool programs.
"Lost
Boys of the Flathead"
After two 11-year-old boys drank themselves to death on the Flathead
Indian Reservation outside Ronan, Mont., Moore spent four months
reporting and writing the complex story behind the tragedy. The
weeklong series is a powerful, deeply nuanced examination of the
lives of Flathead Indian children and the destruction alcohol leaves
in its wake -- narrative storytelling at its best.
Runner-up: Carolyn Feibel, Herald
News, West Paterson, N.J., "Disability
City, USA." Through resourceful reporting, Feibel took a statistical
nugget about high disability rates among working-age people and
turned it into a masterful piece of lively policy analysis.
No honorable mention.
"Broad
Shoulders"
A sweeping look at a high school student's life as he helps raise
his two sisters while his mother works two jobs; White shows that
a child's grace and determination can help assure a family's survival.
She brings some clarity to the collision between housing policies
and homelessness in a way that only good writers can.
Runner-up: Cara Solomon, The
Seattle Times, "Growing
Out of Foster Care." Solomon uses in-depth, unsentimental
reporting to create a moving, authoritative portrait of a teenager
aging out of foster care.
Honorable mention: (Tie) Vanessa
O'Connell, The Wall Street Journal, "Uneasy Compromise";
and Jennifer (Mena) Delson, Los Angeles Times, "A Great Familial
Divide." O'Connell examines why there are no simplistic answers
to the teen-drinking problem, and Mena adroitly shows how cultural
and immigration dilemmas exacerbate stresses for a mother and daughter
living on opposite sides of the border.
"School
Slams Door on Dropouts"
Nolan and Riede use a variety of techniques to illustrate how school
officials understated a serious dropout problem through sloppy and
devious record-keeping. What was perhaps most impressive was
the reporters' ability to get confidential records, which allowed
them to put a face on kids who drop out.
Runner-up: Kathleen Chapman and
William M. Hartnett, The Palm Beach Post, "Revolving
Door for Fired Workers." Through dogged reporting, the authors
reveal how officials at juvenile justice centers in Florida tried
to fill hiring gaps by rehiring former employees already fired for
incompetence or, worse, violent behavior.
Honorable mention: Candy J. Cooper,
The Record, Hackensack, N.J., "Cutting."
By earning the trust of high-school girls who had engaged in "cutting,"
Cooper writes a compelling narrative about this form of self-mutilation.
"Kids
in Exile"
Demer had heard rumors about Alaskan children being sent to psychiatric
hospitals outside the state and after investigating further, she found
that the numbers of those sent away -- and the cost of their care
-- had risen dramatically over a short period of time. She weaves
solid documentary reporting with compelling personal accounts to
create a story with statewide importance.
No runner-up.
Honorable mention: (Tie) Melissa
Griffy, The Repository, Canton, Ohio, "Home-life
Complaints Kept Secret"; and Tim Eaton, Corpus Christi
Caller-Times, "Police
Sex Casework Faulted." Griffy shows how secrecy prevented
a full review of serious problems with Ohio's group homes for the
developmentally disabled, and Eaton uses computer-assisted reporting
and candid interviews to question the effectiveness of one county's
prosecution of sexual offenders who prey on children.
"Rocking
the Cradle…Over" and other editorials on children and education
issues.
Grumman's thoughtful, deeply reported editorials on education, children
and families stand out for their originality, strong voice and intelligence.
Her entries show consistently cogent writing. The issues that
she tackled -- from the demise of a program for teen mothers to
an analysis of how "lax parenting" has indirectly resulted in property tax
increases -- show that Grumman has investigative skills as well as a sharp point of view.
Runner-up: Alberta Phillips, Austin
American-Statesman, "Economics is Reason Enough to Restore CHIP Funding" and other editorials on the Children's Health Insurance
Program (CHIP). Phillips' well-researched series exposes and strongly
denounces the false logic and poor economic policy -- not to mention
inhumanity -- behind tax cuts that have devastated health coverage
for Texas' poorest children.
Honorable mention: Anne C. Lewis,
Phi Delta Kappan, "Schools
That Engage Children" and other editorials on education.
Lewis' work is remarkable for its consistently thoughtful, engaging
and informed analyses of education policy.
"Want Your Kid to Disappear?"
Labi gained extraordinary access to the secretive, often seamy,
and entirely chilling world of "transporters" who forcibly abduct
troublesome children to "tough-love" schools for behavior modification.
By accompanying one transporter from start to finish, then weaving
the results of her excellent reporting into a narrative on the larger
phenomenon, Labi earns first-place honors for originality and captivating
storytelling.
Runner-up: Peter Perl, The Washington
Post Magazine, "Raising Austin." Perl eloquently chronicles
one family's loving but difficult struggle to cope with a child
who has mental health and behavioral problems.
Honorable mention: Kendra Hurley,
City Limits, New York, "Teen
Adoption's Hard Sell." Hurley movingly captures the plight
of teenage foster children whose hopes for adoption are repeatedly
stoked, then dashed by an unfeeling bureaucracy.
"Good
Kids, Bad Blood"
This story -- a detailed account of the travails of a 172-pound
10-year-old girl struggling with adult-onset diabetes -- personalizes
the pressing issue of childhood obesity. One doctor quoted calls
the epidemic of adult-onset diabetes in children "one of the big
stories of the millennium," and Gard found a way, by delving deeply
and with understanding into a child's life, family situation, diet
and daily routine, to capture that sense of importance.
Runner-up: Katy Reckdahl, Gambit
Weekly, New Orleans, "Thrown
Out." Reckdahl's dogged reporting turned up this disturbing
story about the evictions of public housing residents based on confidential
juvenile records.
Honorable mention: Helen Thorpe,
Westword, Denver, "Head
of the Class." In this account of an illegal immigrant who
wants to attend college, Thorpe tells a fresh, revealing and insightful
story.
In “Operation Lion Heart,” an Iraqi boy who
came to the U.S. after he was nearly killed in an explosion tells
California classmates about the village he left behind.
Deanne Fitzmaurice / San Francisco Chronicle
"Operation
Lion Heart"
These photographs humanize an Iraqi family victimized by war. They
carry you through pain, courage, fear, compassion, redemption and
love -- all without uttering a word. That's what art is all about.
At a time when journalists are under attack, in part because of
our perceived cool detachment, we need more stories that dare to
grab the reader by the collar and demand attention. That's what
these pictures do.
Ayesha Beatty has a quiet moment before graduating
from a program for teenagers who failed out of traditional high
schools.
Matt Rainey / The Star-Ledger
Runner-up: Matt Rainey, The
Star-Ledger, Newark, N.J., "Last
Chance High." A work of depth and dedication, Rainey's photographs
put a human face on students in a school for troubled kids. In this
age of bottom-line journalism,
Rainey took the time to depict these students' poignant stories.
Honorable mention: Dan DeLong, John Dickson and Kurt Schlosser, Seattle
Post-Intelligencer, "A
Time to Live." DeLong could have taken us on a
journey through hospitals and medical labs; instead we were treated
to a wonderful story about a kid with lots of fortitude and heart.
"Cries
for Help"
While the topic of this investigation is not new -- the evidence
of incompetence in a state's child protection services agency --
the level of reporting, storytelling, professionalism and determination
in pursuing the story single it out. It did what great public service
journalism is supposed to do -- shine a light on a failed system
and force high-level officials to pay attention and make changes,
including filing criminal charges. The reporting team took on the
state agency and never let go.
Runner-up: Deborah Sherman, Nicole
Vap and John Fosholt, KUSA-TV, Denver, "Suffering for a
Smile." Through diligent use of FOIA and solid reporting, KUSA opened
the door on dental practices that appeared positively medieval:
youngsters tied to papoose boards during treatment until they vomited or urinated,
multiple caps and root canals performed in a single office visit
and finger marks on the throat of a toddler. The children's injuries
were used to further the story about a problem that needed to be
fixed.
No honorable mention.
No winner or runner-up.
Honorable mention: Roger Weisberg
and Murray Nossel, PBS, "Why
Can't We Be a Family Again?" The producers created a sensitive
portrayal of a family in crisis because of a mother's drug addiction.
"N.J.
Child Welfare System"
This story covers all aspects of an immensely complicated and important
issue in a very short time. We hear from foster children and foster
parents, and about their valiant efforts to overcome bureaucratic
inertia. Yet the story doesn't demonize well-intentioned but over-burdened
caseworkers, instead placing the responsibility on state decision-makers.
What sets this story apart is the way in which it clearly articulates
a problem, traces the causes and offers potential solutions.
Runner-up: Martha Foley, David Sommerstein,
Brian Mann and Todd Moe; North Country Public Radio, St.
Lawrence University, Canton, N.Y., "Close
to Homeless." An in-depth look at the lives of low-income
individuals and families, this story -- featuring superb writing
-- paints a vivid picture of adults, teenagers and children facing
the threat of homelessness.
Honorable mention: Melissa Giraud,
Neenah Ellis and Julia McEvoy, WBEZ-FM, Chicago Public
Radio, "Lizandra
is College Bound." This inspired report chronicles the life
and challenges of a disadvantaged Latino girl who wants to go to
college and illustrates the complex social and economic problems
facing a large portion of the population.
No winner or runner-up.
Honorable mention: Christina Pino-Marina, washingtonpost.com,
"Recovering
at Ceeatta’s House." This thoughtful series on women
recovering from domestic violence makes good, extensive use of multimedia
to highlight a common problem that’s often sensationalized but rarely
well investigated.
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The judges for this year's awards were: Toren Beasley,
director of photography, Newhouse News Service; Susan Brenna, freelance writer, New York City; Diane Camper,
assistant editorial page editor, The (Baltimore) Sun;
Polly Carver-Kimm, news director, Des Moines Radio
Group; Jonathan Dube, board member, Online News Association; Gena Fitzgerald, senior producer, "NBC Nightly
News with Brian Williams"; Andy Friedman, vice
president of wire services and web content, Clear Channel Radio;
Sean Gibbons, producer, CNN; Carolina González,
freelance writer, New York City; Carol Guensburg,
senior associate, Journalism Fellowships in Child and Family Policy,
Philip Merrill College of Journalism; Steve Gunn,
metro editor, The Charlotte Observer; LynNell Hancock,
associate professor, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism;
Chris Harvey, online bureau director/lecturer,
Philip Merrill College of Journalism, University of Maryland; John
C. Huff Jr., editor and consultant, Charleston, S.C.; Edward
Humes, author and journalist, Los Angeles; Mary
Kane, freelance business writer, Arlington, Va.; Sue Kopen Katcef, lecturer, Philip Merrill College of Journalism, University of Maryland; Pauline
Lubens, staff photojournalist, San Jose Mercury News;
Carolyn Mungo, managing editor, FOX 26, Houston;
June Peoples, executive producer, "The Infinite
Mind," Lichtenstein Creative Media; Gayle Reaves,
editor, Fort Worth Weekly; Mary Sanchez,
editorial columnist, The Kansas City Star; Mike
Smith, senior editor/training and development, The
New York Times; Gracie Bonds Staples, feature
writer/columnist, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Scott
Sunde, assistant metro editor, Seattle Post-Intelligencer;
Cathy Trost, former director, Casey Journalism
Center on Children and Families; Danna L. Walker,
journalism lecturer, George Washington University and assignment
editor, CBS News; Steve Weinberg, author and part-time
professor, University of Missouri Journalism School; Patricia
Wen, staff writer, The Boston Globe; Fred
Zipp, managing editor, Austin American-Statesman.
Judges evaluated entries for originality of subject matter, depth
of research and documentation, significance of the social issue
to children and families, storytelling and creativity in presentation,
reporting challenges and impact. Judges awarded prizes in 12 of
the 14 categories; no winner was named in online journalism or long-form
television. The contest drew 284 entries published or aired between
Jan. 1, and Dec. 31, 2004. The
next contest deadline is March 1, 2006.
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