Poe awarded for AP investigative series on NYPD
Apr 4, 2012, 9:10 PM
WASHINGTON (AP) – Four Associated Press reporters have won the Edgar A. Poe Award for their stories about the New York City Police Department’s widespread surveillance of Muslims after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
The White House Correspondents’ Association said Matt Apuzzo, Adam Goldman, Eileen Sullivan and Chris Hawley were chosen for a series of stories that “read like a novel, with twists and turns that leave you shaking your head in disbelief.” The award, which carries a $2,500 prize, honors excellence in coverage of events of significant national or regional importance.
It’s the third major prize for the series, which has also won the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting and a George Polk Award.
The association said ABC’s Jake Tapper and Politico’s Glenn Thrush, Carrie Budoff Brown, Manu Raju and John Bresnahan won the Merriman Smith award for excellence in presidential coverage under pressure. Tapper won in the broadcast category for breaking the news that rating agency Standard & Poor’s was on the verge of downgrading the federal government’s triple-A credit rating because of concerns over political gridlock in Washington.
In the print category, Thrush, Budoff Brown, Raju and Bresnahan of Politico won for their report on the deal between President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans to raise the U.S. debt ceiling. Each Merriman Smith award carries a $2,500 prize.
The Aldo Beckman award, which recognizes a correspondent who personifies the journalistic excellence and personal qualities of Aldo Beckman, a former WHCA president and a correspondent for the Chicago Tribune, went to Scott Wilson of The Washington Post. Wilson was recognized for his “deeply reported and nuanced stories, his evocative writing and his clear presentation of complex issues, particularly on the foreign policy front.” The award, given jointly by the Tribune and the WHCA, is $1,000.
Thrush also was cited with an honorable mention for the quality and breadth of his reporting and the clarity of his writing.
The Poe prize awarded to the AP team of Apuzzo, Goldman, Sullivan and Hawley is funded by the New Orleans Times-Picayune and Newhouse Newspapers in honor of their distinguished correspondent Edgar A. Poe, a former WHCA president. Damian Paletta of the Wall Street Journal was awarded an honorable mention for his series of stories on the divisive debate about Social Security Disability Insurance.
The winners will be honored at a dinner on April 28.
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