1997 George Polk Award Winners at a Glance
Career Award-The Pittsburgh Courier, which in its
heyday was the nation's most influential and resourceful newspaper for
African-Americans.
Foreign Reporting-Laurie Garrett, Newsday, for "Crumbled
Empire, Shattered Health," a series of 25 articles on the public
health crisis in the former Soviet Union.
Network TV Reporting-Brian Ross and Rhonda Schwartz, Prime
Time Live, for "Blood Money," an exposé of the
illegal black market trafficking in human body parts harvested from executed
Chinese prisoners and sold in the United States.
Military Affairs Reporting-Dayton Daily News, for "Unnecessary
Danger," a series revealing how the military protects and perpetuates
incompetent physicians.
Medical Reporting-The Wall Street Journal, for sounding
the alarm about popular diet drugs still on the market even though their
use had been linked to lethal side effects.
Business Reporting-Kurt Eichenwald and Martin Gottlieb, The
New York Times, whose articles on dubious practices at Columbia/HCA,
the nation's largest for-private hospital chain, led to indictments, lawsuits
and a restructuring of the firm.
National Reporting-Keith Bradsher, The New York Times,
for stories on safety and environmental problems posed by sport utility
vehicles and light trucks.
Local Reporting-Pensacola News Journal, for "Pensacola's
Brownsville Revival: The Money and the Myths," which exposed skullduggery
at a local revival.
Environmental Reporting-Will Englund, Gary Cohn, Perry Thorsvik, The
Baltimore Sun, for "Shipbreakers," an eye-opening series
on environmental and safety hazards faced by poor, untrained workers in
a little-noticed global industry.
Book Award-"Requiem," Horst Faas and Tim Page, editors,
Random House, a testament to the lives and work of 135 war photographers
killed in Southeast Asia.
Sports Reporting-Kansas City Star, for chronicling the
National Collegiate Athletic Association's dubious enforcement record
and its executives' penchant for perks.
International Reporting-Michael Dobbs, The Washington Post,
for documenting the Jewish roots of Secretary of State Madeleine K.
Albright, whose parents hid their past -- even from her --t o escape the
Nazi persecution that killed much of their family.
Magazine Reporting-Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, for insightful
and graceful reflections in dispatches from Paris that achieved the high
art of the essay.
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