Payne Award for Ethics in Journalism

The Payne Awards for Ethics in Journalism were created at the University of Oregon's School of Journalism and Communications in 1999. In the words of the school's dean, Tim Gleason, the awards were created "to honor the journalist of integrity and character who reports with insight and clarity in the face of political or economic pressures and to reward performance that inspires public trust in the media." The award was established by Seattle broadcasting legend Ancil Payne, former president and CEO of KING-TV. Past award winners have included freelancers, broadcasters and print reporters from media organizations large and small. Award winners receive a $5,000 prize.

Winners

2011

• Stanley Nelson of Concorida Sentinel in Ferriday, Louisiana, for his investigation of the 1964 murder of Frank Morris, a black Ferriday businessman.
• Staff of the New York Times for its "deliberate and thoughtful" handling of confidential information released by controversial WikiLeaks website in 2010.
• Special Citation: Damon Winter, a photographer of the New York Times, for his work documenting the devastation and death in the aftermath of the January 2010 Haiti earthquake.
• Special Citation: Staff of the student Yale Daily News for its coverage of a Yale student’s high-profile suicide in March 2010.

2010

• Scott Carney of Mother Jones (magazine) for his story locating a child kidnapped from India and sold to an American family.
• Farnaz Fassihi, Iran Bureau Chief for the Wall Street Journal for carefully navigating difficult emotional terrain during several reports from the field.

2009

• News Organization: The Seattle Times
• Individual Journalist: Glen Mabie
• Collegiate Media: None awarded

2008

• News Organization—The Phoenix New Times and The (Spokane) Spokesman-Review
• Individual Journalist—None awarded
• Collegiate Media—Ashley Gough, editor of The Mount Observer at Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner, Mass.

2007

• News Organization: The Los Angeles Times and the New York Times
• Individual Journalist: Staff, the Santa Barbara News-Press
• Collegiate Media: None awarded
• Special Citation: The (Raleigh) News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer
• Special Citation: Josh Wolf

2006

• Kurt Eichenwald of the New York Times for his investigative reporting of & involvement with Justin Berry, a self-described victim of Internet predators.

2005

• Kevin Sites, for his war reporting.
• The Denver Post, for its handling of the anonymity of the accuser of Kobe Bryant.
• The State Press of Arizona State University, for its management of a dispute with a donor.

2004

• Virginia Gerst, for her management of a conflict with the Pioneer Press regarding a negative restaurant review.
• Bakersfield Californian for its reporting on the stabbing death of a government attorney.
• Joel Elliott of Toccoa Falls College, for his role in exposing dishonesty in the resume of the college's president.

2003

• Paul DeMain of News from Indian Country, for his investigation into the 1975 death of Anna Mae Aquash.
• The South Florida Sun-Sentinel, for its reportage on shortcomings in the state's Department of Children and Families.
• The Mount Hood Community College Advocate, for editorial response to a proposed bond measure.

2002

• Jay Harris, for resisting corporate pressure to cut staff at the San Jose Mercury News.
• Voice of America, for airing an interview with Mullah Omar over opposition from the United States Department of State.
• KOMU-TV in Missouri, for adhering to a policy banning political symbols in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

2001

• David Offer, editor of Stars and Stripes, for resigning to protest publisher censorship.
• D'Anne Hamilton and Nellie Moore, for protesting an editorial decision.
• The Jackson Sun for its historical coverage of voting rights demonstrations in 1960, including an examination of why the paper did not cover the events at the time.

2000

• Individual staff of the Los Angeles Times, for protesting the publisher's profit-sharing agreement with Staples Center.
• The Union Democrat of Sonora, California, for refusing to publish a story based solely on anonymous sources.
• Erin Becker and Corey Lewis of Western Washington University's The Western Front, for refusing to divulge the source of photographs taken by Animal Liberation Front members during an act of laboratory vandalism.

See also

• Santa Barbara News-Press controversy

External links

• Payne Awards School of Journalism and Communication, University of Oregon