The George Polk Awards for Journalism

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EMBARGOED FOR 6:30 P.M., MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2005

Long Island University Announces Winners of 2004 George Polk Awards

Journalists, including Seymour M. Hersh, Bill Moyers, Diane Sawyer, to be honored in 13 categories

Brooklyn, N.Y. – Thirty-five years after winning a George Polk Award for his coverage of the My Lai massacre in Vietnam, Seymour M. Hersh of The New Yorker is being honored with a 2004 George Polk Award for Magazine Reporting. His detailed accounts of American torture of Iraqis in the Abu Ghraib prisonrevealed the depravity, extent and origins of Iraqi prisoner abuse, earning him his fifth Polk Award and making him the most honored individual laureate in the history of the awards.

His prize is among 13 awards for extraordinary journalism, ranging from courageous reporting in war zones to news-breaking investigations in baseball, which are being announced Tuesday by Long Island University. Among the most coveted honors in journalism, the Awards have been administered by Long Island University since 1949. The 2004 Awards will be presented at a luncheon held at the New York Marriott Marquis Hotel in Manhattan on April 21, 2005.

“The 2004 George Polk Award winners reflect the vibrancy and indispensability of our free press,” noted Dr. David J. Steinberg, University president. He added, “Long Island University is deeply committed to the tradition of George Polk and to supporting these Awards, which honor journalists for courage and tenacity in the quest for truth.”
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?040510fa_fact
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?040517fa_fact2
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?040524fa_fact

The Career Award will be given to Bill Moyers, who retired in November after more than three decades of pioneering broadcast journalism at CBS and PBS. Moyers previously was honored with a George Polk Award for political reporting in 1980.

Dexter Filkins of The New York Times will be honored with the George Polk Award for War Reporting for his riveting, first-hand account of an eight-day attack on Iraqi insurgents in Falluja. His courageous reports of the street-by-street fighting that killed six U.S. marines and wounded 30, conveyed the hellish intensity of urban warfare underway in Iraq.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/21/international/middleeast/21battle.html?ex=1111208400&en=e92b5ce266e73d3b&ei=5087

Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams of the San Francisco Chronicle will receive the George Polk Award for Sports Reporting. The pair investigated how star athletes obtained and used banned steroids and other performance-enhancers to boost their averages and their careers. Their relentless and revelatory coverage unearthed a national scandal, leading Congress and the White House to press team owners, trainers and sports-related organizations to be vigilant in the drug screening of athletes
http://www.sfgate.com/balcostories/

Diane Sawyer and Robbie Gordon of ABC News PrimeTime Live will receive the George Polk Award for Television Reporting for “Fighting for Care,” an exposé on the disgraceful conditions, inadequate care and gross mismanagement that have persisted for years in Veterans Administration hospitals around the country. The report prompted hospital inspections as well as new supervision and training efforts.
http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=132383&page=1

Walt Bogdanich of The New York Times is the winner of the George Polk Award for National Reporting for “Death on the Tracks.” His series revealed that, despite hundreds of fatalities caused by railroad accidents, politically connected railroad companies evaded costs and regulations by manipulating evidence, government officials and public opinion. The reports forced the nation’s biggest railroad to improve its practices and prompted federal investigations and monitoring. This is the fourth time that Bogdanich has been honored by the Polk Committee.
http://www.nytimes.com/ref/national/deathonthetracks_index.html

Diana Henriques of The New York Times will be presented with the George Polk Award for MilitaryReporting. She explored how young soldiers were fleeced by insurance and investment firms that used ties to military commanders to gain access to them and to cultivate their trust. Her stories prompted investigations by federal and state authorities as well as congressional hearings that may lead to federal legislation.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/20/business/20military.html?ex=1111381200&en=021057ccf5d99e03&ei=5087
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/21/business/21military.html?ex=1111381200&en=7f92162d4d1ce561&ei=5087
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/08/business/08military.html?ex=1111381200&en=e1541290b4d78388&ei=5087
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/02/business/02ties.html?ex=1111381200&en=40249b558743b45c&ei=5087
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/07/business/07military.html?ex=1111381200&en=0a28c4f2f6efcad&ei=5087
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/29/business/29vets.html?ex=1111381200&en=c6552dc2c39b7adc&ei=5087

ThePress Democrat will be honored with the George Polk Award for Regional Reporting for “Global Shift,” a series portraying the human and economic toll of decisions made by two employers to export high-tech, high-paying jobs from Sonoma County to low-income countries. The Santa Rosa, California-based newspaper dedicated a team of four reporters and a photographer to the eight-month, project – an ambitious undertaking for a 92,000-circulation daily.
www.pressdemocrat.com/globalshift

John Hill and Dorothy Korber of TheSacramento Bee will be honored with the George Polk Award for State Reporting for revealing how higher-ups in the California Highway Patrol, who were close to retirement, inflated pension benefits by making dubious claims of maladies. Their investigation has resulted in internal audits, legislation and a gubernatorial commitment to address the issue.
http://www.sacbee.com/content/links/story/12376806p-13224040c.html

Tim Novak and Steve Warmbir of the Chicago Sun-Times will receive the George Polk Award for Local Reporting for “Clout on Wheels,” which exposed a $40 million municipal dump truck program as a hotbed of payoffs, sweetheart deals, mob connections and ties to city officials and politicians. The series revealed a level of corruption that has prompted reform, prosecutions and an expanding investigation into privatized city contracts.
http://www.suntimes.com/special_sections/clout/index.html

The George Polk Awards memorialize the CBS correspondent slain covering a civil war in Greece in 1948. They rank among America's most coveted journalism honors. A committee of jurors who are faculty members or alumni of Long Island University select the winners from entries submitted by journalists and news organizations as well as nominations made by a panel of journalists and editors, including a number of former winners.

Attached: 2004 George Polk Award “Winners at a Glance” and a listing of previous George Polk Career Award Recipients

On Wednesday April 20, from 5:45 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., the annual George Polk Awards Seminar will be held at the HBO Theater, 1100 Avenue of the Americas, 15th floor, New York City. Moderated by Bill Moyers, the winner of the George Polk Career Award, a panel of Polk Award winners will discuss “The Fallout of War: Soldier Stories.” Cosponsored by the Brooklyn Campus of Long Island University’s Journalism Department and the Center for Communication, the Seminar is free and open to the public. Seating is limited and reservations are required. To attend the seminar, please call (212) 686-5005.

On Thursday, April 21, Long Island University will present the George Polk Awards Luncheon at the New York Marriott Marquis Hotel, at 1535 Broadway, between 45th and 46th Streets in New York City. A poster exhibit displaying the winners' work will begin at 11:00 a.m. The Luncheon will begin at noon. A limited number of tickets are available.

For information about attending the Seminar or the Awards Luncheon, please call the Long Island University Department of Special Events at (516) 299-4196.

George Polk Awards

Administered by the University since 1949, the George Polk Awards memorialize the CBS correspondent slain covering a civil war in Greece and rank among America's most coveted journalism honors.

Long Island University

Celebrating 78 years of 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 universities in the country, it offers 604 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degree programs and certificates, and educates more than 27,000 students on six campuses in Brooklyn, Brookville (C.W. Post), Southampton, Brentwood, Rockland and Westchester. 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 Friends World Program offers a wide range of study abroad options in North America and at five overseas locations. More than 700 full-time faculty members provide outstanding instruction that is supplemented by internships and cooperative education opportunities. The accomplishments of nearly 156,000 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 its students and the communities it serves.

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 will open a new performing arts complex, which will include the 320-seat Kumble Theater, and a $40 million athletics, recreation and wellness center, both of which will serve the Campus and the community.