Former USA Today Reporter, Chinese Journalist Win Press Freedom
Citations

    WASHINGTON, June 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- BusinessWeek was
recognized for outstanding consumer and environmental journalism, and
Rachel Smolkin won two awards for press criticism to highlight the 2008
National Press Club Awards.

    Former USA Today reporter Toni Locy and Chinese journalist Qi Chonghuai
won John Aubuchon Freedom of the Press Awards for their efforts to protect
sources and reveal corruption.

    "Journalism is indispensable to our system of government," said Sylvia
Smith, the Club's president. "Excellent journalism is a celebration of all
that's good in our democracy, even when it exposes problems. The National
Press Club and its contest judges are thrilled to honor the best of the
best."

    The awards will be presented at a dinner on Monday, July 14, at the
National Press Club, which has 3,700 members who work in journalism and
communications. The Club annually honors the best journalism in the
country. This year, Club judges evaluated 203 entries in 27 categories.

    BusinessWeek won the periodical category in consumer journalism for a
series of stories on companies that take advantage of impoverished, often
poorly educated Americans. The magazine also captured the Robert L. Kozik
Award for Environmental Reporting for an examination of the use of carbon
offsets.

    Smolkin was honored for her analysis of media coverage of controversy
surrounding the men's lacrosse team at Duke University. Smolkin's work was
published in the American Journalism Review. She is now national editor for
legal affairs at USA Today.

    Locy won a John Aubuchon Freedom of the Press Award/national for her
determination to protect sources in the face of extreme personal risk. Locy
was fined $5,000 a day earlier this year by U.S. District Court Judge
Reggie Walton for refusing to reveal her sources for stories she wrote for
USA Today in 2003 about the 2001 anthrax attacks. Locy now holds the Shott
Chair of Journalism at West Virginia University.

    The judge said Locy could not get the money to pay her fines from
outside sources, essentially condemning her to bankruptcy. A few weeks
later, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued a stay on the
fines while it considers an appeal from Locy.

    The case has helped draw attention to the need for a national shield
law that would protect all U.S. reporters against judges and prosecutors
who are increasingly seeking the identity of sources.

    "If people fear contacting reporters because their names could become
known, then many of them will stop talking to reporters," said John M.
Donnelly of Congressional Quarterly, vice chairman of the NPC Board of
Governors and a member of the Club's Freedom of the Press Committee. "If
that happens, it is not only the press that will lose but also democracy in
America because it will impair the flow of information, without which we
would have a harder time keeping our leaders honest."

    Qi won a John Aubuchon Freedom of the Press Award/international for
reporting on local Chinese officials involved in abuse and corruption. A
journalist for 13 years for several online and print publications in
China's Shandong province, Qi was sentenced in May to four years in prison
for alleged fraud and extortion. He has been beaten by police on several
occasions.

    "Qi's imprisonment on trumped-up charges is but one example of how
China has trampled on press freedom," Donnelly said. "The government of
China hopes the world does not talk about the lack of press freedom in that
country during the upcoming Olympics, but the fact remains that dozens of
reporters in China sit in jail cells merely for doing their jobs."

    For the third year in a row, Newsday was honored in the online
category. The newspaper won the Joan M. Friedenberg Online Journalism Award
for best site for a story about the extraordinary efforts over three years
by a young family to save a child suffering from a rare disease by having
another "matched" child.

    The National Press Club is the world's leading professional
organization for journalists. Founded in 1908, the Club has 3,700 members
representing most major news organizations. The Club holds more than 2,000
events including news conferences, luncheons and panels each year, and more
than 250,000 guests come through its doors. On the web at http://www.press.org.

    Here is a complete list of 2008 National Press Club Award winners:

    Consumer Journalism (newspapers)

    "Danger in Tow"

    Los AngelesTimes

    Alan Miller, Myron Levin

    Honorable Mention

    "Hidden Hazards"

    ChicagoTribune

    Patricia Callahan, Maurice Possley, Sam Roe, Ted Gregory

    Consumer Journalism (periodicals)

    Poverty Series

    BusinessWeek

    Brian Grow, Keith Epstein, Robert Berner

    Honorable Mention

    "The Insurance Hoax"

    Bloomberg News

    David Dietz, Darrell Preston

    Consumer Journalism (broadcast)

    TV

    "Rainier Abuse"

    KIRO-TV, Seattle

    Honorable Mention

    "Mortgage Meltdown"

    WMAR-TV, Baltimore

    Washington Correspondence

    "VA Mental Health Crisis"

    Chris Adams

    McClatchy

    Honorable Mention

    Mike Doyle

    McClatchy

    Arthur Rowse Award for Press Criticism (single entry)

    Print

    "Justice Delayed: The Media's Duke Lacrosse Debacle"

    Rachel Smolkin

    American Journalism Review

    Broadcast

    "News War"

    PBS Frontline

    LowellBergman

    Arthur Rowse Award for Press Criticism (body of work/print & broadcast)

    Print

    Rachel Smolkin

    American Journalism Review

    Broadcast

    David Folkenflik

    National Public Radio

    Press Criticism/Book

    "Regret the Error"

    Craig Silverman

    Robin Goldstein Award for Washington Regional Reporting

    Bill Walsh

    The Times-Picayune

    Honorable Mention

    Phil Dine

    St. LouisPost-Dispatch

    Edwin M. Hood Award for Diplomatic Correspondence (print, broadcast)

    Print

    "Breaching America"

    Todd Bensman

    San Antonio Express

    Honorable Mention

    "The Great Nuclear Giveaway"

    Sam Roe

    ChicagoTribune

    Broadcast

    "Beyond Fear: America's Role in an Uncertain World"

    The StanleyFoundation and KQED Public Radio

    David Brancaccio, Simon Marks, Kristin McHugh, Keith Porter, Jocelyn
Ford

    Newsletter Journalism (analytical)

    "Everglades: Farms, Fuels and the Future of America's Wetland"

    Greenwire

    Michael Burnham

    Honorable Mention

    "As Dockets Go Online"

    Ralph Lindeman

    Bureau of National Affairs

    Newsletter (exclusive)

    "Sallie Mae-USA Funds"

    Paul Basken

    Chronicle of Higher Education

    Honorable Mention

    "V-22 Parts Replaced"

    Inside the Navy

    Christopher Castelli

    Robert L. Kozik Award for Environmental Reporting

    "Greenwashing"

    BusinessWeek

    Ben Elgin

    Honorable Mention

    "China's Three Gorges Dam"

    Shai Oster

    The Wall Street Journal

    Joan M. Friedenberg Online Journalism Awards

    Best Site

    "The Match"

    Newsday

    Distinguished Contribution

    "Voices of the Fallen"

    Newsweek

    Honorable Mention

    PolitiFact

    St. PetersburgTimes/Congressional Quarterly

    Sandy Hume Memorial Award for Excellence in Political Journalism

    Jonathan Allen

    Congressional Quarterly

    Honorable Mention

    Brody Mullins

    The Wall Street Journal

    Honorable Mention

    Eartha Jane Melzer

    MichiganMessenger.com

    Joseph D. Ryle Award for Excellence in Writing on the Problems of
Geriatrics

    "Prescription Abuse"

    Lucette Lagnado

    The Wall Street Journal

    Angele Gingras Humor Award

    Single Entry

    "O'Neal's Agony, or, in the Bunker with Stan"

    Michael Lewis

    Bloomberg News

    Body of work

    "Reason Gone Mad"

    Bill Shein

    The BerkshireEagle

    Ann Cottrell Free Animal Reporting Award

    Print

    "Who's Watching Out for Me?"

    Tim Darrah, Christopher Schnaars

    The Morning Call

    Honorable Mention

    "Horse Slaughter on the Border"

    San Antonio Express News

    Lisa Sanberg

    Broadcast

    "A Voice for the Voiceless: Brad Woodard Reports"

    Brad Woodard

    KHOU-TV, Houston

    Honorable Mention

    "PBS Nature: Silence of the Bees"

    Doug Shultz

    Michael A. Dornheim Award

    William McGee

    Freelance

    John Aubuchon Freedom of the Press Award

    Toni Locy

    Qi Chonghuai

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