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Long Island University Announces 2007 George Polk Awards in 14 Categories
 George Polk Career Award
The New Yorker magazine veteran John McPhee, for his extraordinary contributions as a prolific author, essayist and educator, who is considered to be one of the pioneers of creative nonfiction
http://www.johnmcphee.com
George Polk Award for Television Reporting
Senior foreign correspondent Jim Sciutto, producer Angus Hines and cameraman/producer Tom Murphy of "ABC World News with Charles Gibson," for their revealing accounts of government crackdowns on protestors in Myanmar
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=3866894
George Polk Award for Political Reporting
Reporters Barton D. Gellman and Jo Becker, for their Washington Post series on Vice President Dick Cheney’s role as the hidden architect of U.S. policies concerning torture, military tribunals and other controversial issues
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/cheney/
George Polk Award for Foreign Reporting
Leila Fadel, for coverage as Baghdad bureau chief for the McClatchy Company, that offered chilling, first-hand accounts of violence and murder among Iraq’s own people
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/staff/leila_fadel/story/27710.html
George Polk Award for Environmental Reporting
The Wall Street Journal’s Shai Oster, for his reports on the devastating, unforseen environmental consequences of China’s construction of the Three Gorges Dam
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120336357640075127.html?mod=editsend
George Polk Award for Medical Reporting
The New York Times’ Charles A. Duhigg, for exposing unethical practices by nursing homes, long-term care insurers and allied businesses and investors that put the elderly at risk
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/series/golden_opportunites/
George Polk Award for Legal Reporting
Talking Points Memo’s editor & publisher Joshua M. Marshall, for his reports uncovering politically motivated dismissals of United States attorneys
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/us-attorneys/2007/03/
George Polk Award for Consumer Reporting
The Chicago Tribune, for revealing accounts of children suffering injury and death from exposure to unregulated products imported from China
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/specials/chi-safety-mainpage,0,2867796.special
George Polk Book Award
Jeremy Scahill, for "Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army," which chronicled the questionable business practices of Blackwater USA, a North Carolina-based company that has become one of the world’s premiere providers of private military services
http://www.nationbooks.org/book/5/Blackwater
George Polk Award for Magazine Reporting
Freelance writer Joshua A. Kors, for articles published in The Nation magazine, uncovering the U.S. Army’s attempt to deny benefits to thousands of Iraq veterans
http://www.joshuakors.com/military
George Polk Award for Financial Reporting
Edward Chancellor, for the Institutional Investor magazine article, "Ponzi Nation" that warned months before the market decline, that excessive risk-taking and interconnected investments – fueled by subprime mortgages and the activities of lightly regulated hedge funds – could cause calamity for world economies.
http://www.iimagazine.com/article.aspx?articleID=1234217
George Polk Award for Business Reporting
The staff of North Carolina’s Charlotte Observer, for a series that exposed the causes of the community’s high rate of housing foreclosures
http://www.charlotte.com/523/
George Polk Award for State Reporting
Jerry Mitchell of Jackson, Mississippi’s Clarion-Ledger, for uncovering how disease outbreaks and an alarming increase in infant mortality rates went unreported by the Mississippi Department of Health
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080218/NEWS/80218048&template=theme&theme=polk_awards
George Polk Award for Local Reporting (posthumously)
Chauncey W. Bailey, Jr., who was the editor of the Oakland Post, was gunned down while in the midst of investigating a local business, which has been linked to kidnapping, rape, torture and several killings, now including his own. The slaying is believed to be the first targeted killing of a journalist in the United States since 1993.
http://www.cpj.org/news/2007/americas/usa02aug07na.html
Visit the George Polk Awards Web site for additional information at: www.liu.edu/polk
On Wednesday April 16, the annual George Polk Seminar will take place at the Kumble Theater for the Performing Arts on Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus, located near the intersection of DeKalb Avenue and Flatbush Avenue Extension in downtown Brooklyn. A 6 p.m. reception will precede the panel discussion that begins at 7 p.m The Seminar will explore the topic: "Strategies – Old and New – for Groundbreaking Journalism." Panelists will include Leila Fadel, Baghdad bureau chief, the McClatchy Company and winner of the George Polk Award for Foreign Reporting; Jim Sciutto, senior foreign correspondent, "ABC World News with Charles Gibson," a winner of the George Polk Award for Television Reporting; and Josh Marshall, editor and publisher, Talking Points Memo and winner of the George Polk Award for Legal Reporting. The George Polk Seminar is free and open to the public. Reservations are required.
On Thursday, April 17, Long Island University will host the George Polk Awards Luncheon at The Roosevelt Hotel, located in Manhattan at 45 East 45th Street (at the corner of Madison Avenue). A poster exhibit displaying work by the Award winners will commence at 11 a.m., and the Luncheon and Awards presentations will begin at noon. A limited number of tickets are available.
For reservations to attend the George Polk Seminar and for tickets to the George Polk Awards Luncheon, please contact Long Island University’s Department of Special Events at (516) 299-3298 or, e-mail jeanette.morales@liu.edu.
The Long Island University Public Radio Network will broadcast the George Polk Awards Seminar and Awards Luncheon live on 88.3 WLIU FM and 88.1 WCWP FM, and on the Internet at www.wliu.org.
Media Contact:
Peg Byron
Office: 718-488-1015
Cell: 917-613-5423
Fax: 718-780-4046
Email: peg.byron@liu.edu
George Polk Awards
Ranked among America's most coveted journalism honors, the George Polk Awards have been administered by Long Island University since 1949. They memorialize CBS correspondent George W. Polk, who was slain while covering the civil war in Greece in 1948. A committee of jurors comprised of University faculty members and alumni select the winners from entries submitted by independent journalists, news organizations and a formal panel of media professionals that includes a number of former Polk Award winners.
Long Island University
In its ninth decade of providing access to the American dream through excellence in higher education, Long Island University is a multicampus, diverse, doctoral institution of higher learning. One of the largest and most comprehensive private universities in the country, Long Island University offers over 550 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degree programs and certificates, and educates over 24,000* credit-seeking and continuing education students in Brooklyn, Brookville (C.W. Post), Brentwood, Riverhead, Rockland, Westchester and Southampton. The Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences prepares students for successful careers in the fields of pharmacy and health care. The University’s Global College offers a wide range of study abroad options at overseas centers in China, Costa Rica, Japan and South Africa.
Long Island University’s more than 650 full-time faculty members provide outstanding instruction, which is supplemented by internships and cooperative education opportunities. The accomplishments of nearly 167,000 living alumni are a testament to the success of its mission – providing the highest level of education to people from all walks of life. The University’s NCAA Division I and II athletic teams, nationally renowned George Polk Awards in journalism, Tilles Center for the Performing Arts and Long Island University Public Radio Network (WLIU-FM and WCWP-FM) provide enrichment for students and the community.
*This number includes high school students enrolled in one or more degree-credit courses.
The Brooklyn Campus is distinguished by...
dynamic curricula reflecting the great urban community it serves. Distinctive programs encompass the arts and media, natural sciences, business, social policy, urban education, the health professions and pharmacy, and include the Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, the Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics, the D.P.T. in Physical Therapy and the Pharm.D. in Pharmacy. A vibrant urban oasis in downtown Brooklyn, this diverse and thriving campus offers academic excellence, personalized attention, small class size and flexible course schedules. In 2005, the Campus opened a new performing arts complex, which includes the 320-seat Kumble Theater, and in 2006, a $45 million Wellness, Recreation and Athletic Center, both of which serve the Campus and the community.
Previous Winners
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