A multi-part newspaper series on the condition of public education in Mississippi has won both a 1983 Pulitzer Prize for public-service reporting and the $1,000 grand prize for distinguished education reporting in the 1982 national competition sponsored by the Education Writers Association.
The top honors were awarded to the team of Fred Anklam and Nancy Weaver of The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss., who spent six months developing a series of 30 reports on problems in the state’s public-education system. The series concluded as state legislators convened in a special session last fall that resulted in significant reforms, including new taxes, mandatory kindergarten, and a stronger attendance law.
In the education writers’ competition, the team also won first prize in the category of investigative reporting in newspapers with a circulation of 75,000 and under, an honor that carried an additional award of $500.
Assistant Editor Eileen White of Education Week was also among the 28 first- and second-prize winners in the ewa competition this year. She was awarded a second prize in the trade-publications category for her three-part series on the National Institute of Education, “nie: A Failed Mission?” (See Education Week, Dec. 8, Dec. 15, and Dec. 22, 1982).
Other 1982 winners include:
Newspapers with a circulation under 75,000:
Breaking News: first prize, Dan Campbell, Estes Park Trail-Gazette, Estes Park, Colo.; second prize: Fred Anklam and Cliff Treyens, The Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, Miss.; special citation: Scott Thurm, Bethlehem Globe-Times, Bethlehem, Pa.; Feature: first prize: Barbara Morrow, Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, Fort Wayne; second prize: Regina Wright, The Decatur Daily, Decatur, Ala.; special citation: Pamella Alloway, The Hutchinson News, Hutchinson, Kan.; Susan Knight, Arizona Daily Star, Tucson, Ariz.; Series: first prize: Marilyn Brown, Evening Independent, St. Petersburg, Fla.; second prize: Mark Eyerly and Ed Klimuska, Lancaster New Era, Lancaster, Pa.; special citation: Karen Dorn and team, Spokane Chronicle, Spokane, Wash.; Investigative Reporting: first prize: Fred Anklam and Nancy Weaver, The Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, Miss.; second prize: Chris Beardsley, Herald-Standard, Uniontown, Pa.; Opinion: first prize: David Hardin, The Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, Miss.; second prize: Dennis O’Connor, Canton Observer, Plymouth, Mich.
Newspapers with a circulation over 75,000:
Breaking News: first prize: Robert Benjamin, The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore; Feature: first prize: Leslie Scanlon, The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.; second prize: Gayle Gertler, The Providence Sunday Journal, Providence, R.I.; special citation: Robert Benjamin, The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore; Series: first prize: John Hildebrand, Newsday, Long Island, N.Y.; second prize: Muriel Cohen and Eileen McNamara, The Boston Globe, Boston; special citation: Frank Roylance, The Evening Sun, Baltimore; Roger Witherspoon, The National Leader, Philadelphia; Investigative Reporting: first prize: Stephen Kurkjian, Hank Klibanoff, and John Ellement, The Boston Globe, Boston; second prize: Robert Braun, The Star-Ledger, Newark; special citation: Bill Dalton, Tom Rademacher, The Grand Rapids Press, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Gary Cohn, Lexington Herald, Lexington, Ky.; Opinion: first prize: Saundra Keyes, The Tennessean, Nashville; second prize: Ed Offley and Frank Callaham, The Ledger-Star, Norfolk, Va.
Magazines:
National Magazines: first prize: Emily Smith, Evert Clark, Alan Hall, and team, Business Week, New York City; second prize: Otto Friedrich, Time Magazine, New York City; special citation: Stanley Wellborn, U.S. News and World Report, Washington; Local Magazines: first prize: Kitty Oliver, Michael Browning, Charles Whitaker, John Wolin, and Garldine Baum, Tropic Magazine, Miami Herald, Miami; second prize: Larry Van Dyne, Washingtonian Magazine, Washington; special citation: Robin Warshaw, Phildelphia Magazine, Philadephia; Special interest, institutional, and trade publications: first prize: Dan Levin, American School Board Journal, Washington; second prize: Eileen White, Education Week, Washington.
Television:
First prize: Steve Hall and Lyle Jackson, news department of WSMV-tv, Nashville; second prize: Rudy Miller, Thomas Ritchie, WBAL-tv, Baltimore; special citation: Dave Golderg, Jeff Dore, Clifton Hunt, WTVF-tv, Channel 5, Nashville.
Radio:
First prize: Len Walter and Sharon Gelder, WBBM/CBS Newsradio 78, Chicago.
