The National Press Foundation celebrated the best in journalistic achievement on February 18, 2021, virtually. You can view the event video below, and the program PDF here.
We heard from award winners, including Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN, columnist George Will of the Washington Post, and Editor of the Year Peter Bhatia of the Detroit Free Press. Will, Audie Cornish of NPR and Bhatia– discussed the state of journalism today in a panel moderated by CNN’s Dana Bash, winner of four previous NPF awards.
NPF Award Winners Discuss Truth Decay, Future of Journalism:
CNN’s Sanjay Gupta, M.D., Wins NPF Chairman’s Citation.
CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta, M.D., is recognized with the National Press Foundation’s Chairman’s Citation for his tireless and distinguished coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Chairman’s Citation is awarded at the sole discretion of the National Press Foundation chair. It recognizes individuals whose accomplishments fall outside the traditional categories of excellence but who nevertheless have a pro-found impact on journalism.
George Will Wins Kiplinger Award
George Will has won the W.M. Kiplinger Distinguished Contributions to Journalism Award from the National Press Foundation.
The Kiplinger Award honors those who have strengthened American journalism through their leadership and vision. The award was named for Willard M. Kiplinger (1891-1967), who staunchly supported the right of reporters to exercise their independent judgment on political and economic affairs and who famously held that “a good reporter is the noblest work of God.”
Audie Cornish Wins Taishoff Award for Broadcasting
Audie Cornish, co-host of “All Things Considered,” has won the 2020 Sol Taishoff Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism.
“Audie Cornish has firmly established herself as a unique voice in the new landscape of audio journalism, spanning traditional airwaves and myriad forms of digital delivery,” the judges said.
Detroit Free Press Editor Claims Top Award for Coverage of 2020, Leadership on Diversity
Peter Bhatia has won the 2020 Benjamin C. Bradlee Editor of the Year Award from the National Press Foundation.
Bhatia led the Detroit Free Press in superb coverage of the tumultuous events of 2020 and has been a longstanding and committed advocate for diversity, both in the newsroom and in the practice of community journalism.
Washington Post Team Wins Hinrich Trade Reporting Award
David J. Lynch
Carol Leonnig
Josh Dawsey
Jeff Stein
David J. Lynch, Carol Leonnig, Josh Dawsey and Jeff Stein of The Washington Post have won the 2020 Hinrich Foundation Award for Distinguished Reporting on Trade for stories that brought to light the complexities of doing business in China in 2020.
Their stories shed light on how the coronavirus upended global supply chains as the pandemic spread from China to the rest of the world. They gave readers an indelible portrait of President Donald Trump’s trade adviser, Peter Navarro, illuminating how personality and politics affected the evolution of U.S. policy. Post global economics correspondent Lynch showed how one multinational company, Flex Ltd., managed to profit from the upheaval by remaking supply chains built for efficiency into sourcing that emphasized resiliency, navigating away from China. Lynch’s story explained a shift that may foretell how pandemic adaptations could have lasting ramifications for global trade.
The National Press Foundation judges in particular praised the Flex piece, “Business Unusual,” as “fine, well-sourced and vivid storytelling.”
New York Times Team Wins Innovative Storytelling Award
Jonah Kessel
Jonah M. Kessel and Hiroko Tabuchi of the New York Times have won the Innovative Storytelling Award from the National Press Foundation for a groundbreaking piece that made invisible methane emissions visible to readers for the first time.
Kessel and Tabuchi traveled to West Texas to document how natural gas facilities were emitting large amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas far more potent than carbon dioxide. They took a plane crammed with scientific equipment over the Permian oil fields and identified six methane super-emitters. They then used an infrared camera to reveal a powerful climate change threat that had previously been invisible to the naked eye.
Hiroko Tabuchi
This research, “along with an examination of lobbying activities by the companies that own the sites, shows how the energy industry is seeking and winning looser federal regulations on methane, a major contributor to global warming,” the journalists wrote.
Molly Ball Wins Dirksen Award for Distinguished Reporting of Congress
Molly Ball of Time Magazine has won the Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for Distinguished Reporting of Congress from the National Press Foundation. Judges honored her coverage of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The Dirksen Award was created in 1980 in honor of the late Republican senator from Illinois. It recognizes journalists whose work shows thoughtful appraisal and insight into the workings of the U.S. Congress.
USA Today Team Wins the Feddie Award
Brett Murphy and Letitia Stein of USA Today have won the National Press Foundation’s Feddie Reporting Award for a trio of stories showing how the U.S. Centers for Disease Control’s dysfunctional response to COVID affected local communities across the United States.
Brett Murphy
The Feddie award recognizes outstanding reporting about the impact of federal laws and regulations on local communities.
Murphy and Stein meticulously documented how the federal-level failure of the CDC, a $7 billion agency charged with protecting Americans’ health, translated into chaos and confusion for state and local authorities trying to prevent outbreaks from escalating into thousands of preventable deaths.
“Instead of answers, many received slow, confusing and conflicting information – or no response at all,” they wrote.
Letitia Stein
“The USA Today series is a model for the kind of stories that deserve the Feddie Award,” judge Jeff Birnbaum said. “The series illustrates in concrete ways how an important federal agency – the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – too often failed to provide life-saving guidance to localities about the greatest medical threat of the century, the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Steve Sack Wins Berryman Cartoonist Award
Steve Sack, longtime editorial cartoonist for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, has won the 2020 Clifford K. and James T. Berryman Award from the National Press Foundation.
Steve Sack
The winning cartoons offered indelible visual commentary on the COVID-19 pandemic, the fallout from George Floyd’s murder, the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and the U.S. Postal Service during the 2020 election.
Sack claimed the Berryman Award in 2006 and went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 2013. Judge Robert (R.J.) Matson, last year’s Berryman winner, praised Sack both for his superior drawing skills and his “sharp, tight gags with strong visual punch.” Judge Julie Triolo said, “He takes very grave situations and delivers a crispness and clarity that enables the reader an immediate ‘aha’ moment.”
Sack, who creates his works electronically, said he intends to use his $2,500 award proceed for a new iPad.
The Full 2021 Awards Celebration Show, February 18, 2021:
Benjamin C. Bradlee Editor of the Year Award
Peter Bhatia accepted the 2020 NPF Editor of the Year award virtually from his home. He also talked about the future of journalism, and the struggles faced by journalists in recent years.
Sol Taishoff Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism
Audie Cornish accepted the NPF Taishoff award virtually from her home.
W.M. Kiplinger Distinguished Contributions to Journalism Award
George Will accepted the NPF Kiplinger Award virtually from his office. He also talked about the Republican party’s ’emancipation’ from Donald Trump, and how the nation should reconcile its need for immigrants.
