Gerald Loeb Award Winners Announced
Posted on July 11, 2002
Journalists from across the nation gathered at the Hilton New York Hotel for the 2002 Gerald Loeb Awards Banquet, celebrating the best of business, financial and economic journalism. Presented by The Anderson School at UCLA since 1973, and established in 1957 by Gerald Loeb, the awards recognize journalists who have made significant contributions to the public's understanding of business, finance and the economy.
This year's recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award was Paul Steiger, managing editor of The Wall Street Journal. This honor is the capstone of Steiger's long association with the Loeb Awards. He is a longtime judge and personally won three Loeb Awards earlier in his career. Steiger has been widely recognized for his strong leadership at The Wall Street Journal of more than a decade. Over the last nine months, Steiger demonstrated the breadth and depth of his leadership as he dealt with the murder of one of his journalists, the loss of the paper's headquarters in the wake of September 11, and the launch of a redesigned Wall Street Journal.
This year, the Loeb Foundation created a new award, the Lawrence Minard Editor Award, named in memory of longtime Loeb Awards final judge Lawrence Minard, former editor of Forbes Global. In a posthumous tribute to Minard, Steve Forbes, president and editor-in-chief of Forbes, and a Loeb Awards final judge, fondly remembered his association with Minard during his 27-year tenure with Forbes. In honor of his many years of service to the Loeb Awards and his contributions to the field of business journalism, Minard was named the first recipient this award.
2002 Loeb Awards Winners (along with synopses of their award-winning work)Large Newspaper Winner
"Uninformed Consent" by Duff Wilson and David Heath of The Seattle Times.
This series on the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center offered a shocking portrait of a local icon. The controversial articles generated their own press with further debate in other major business publications. Other finalists in the category were The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.
Medium Newspaper Winner
"Unequal Opportunity" by Jeffrey Meitrodt, Mark Schleifstein, Pamela Coyle and Ronette King of The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA).
Authoritative reporting uncovered gross abuses of several local programs intended to help disadvantaged businesses that actually benefited the wealthy. Entries from The Kansas City Star, Philadelphia Daily News and Orlando Sentinel were also finalists.
Small Newspaper Winner
"Foal Deaths" by Janet Patton of Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader
Written as a mystery story, these reports chronicled the search for why thoroughbred foals began dying at alarming rates in this Central Kentucky community where horse breeding is a financial mainstay. Additional finalists were from Anchorage Daily News, Legal Times (Washington, DC) and San Francisco Weekly.
Magazines Winner
"The Numbers Game, Why Earnings Are Too Rosy, Confused About Earnings" by David Henry and Nanette Byrnes of BusinessWeek.
The reporters provided an in-depth examination of the accounting tricks many companies have used in recent years to give investors the impression that the firms were doing better than the numbers actually indicated. Other magazines selected as finalists were Fast Company, Fortune, Los Angeles Magazine and Milwaukee Magazine.
Commentary Winner
"Market Watch" by Gretchen Morgenson of The New York Times.
Ex-stockbroker Morgenson gives sophisticated investment analysis exposing too-good-to-be-true stocks, analysts who promote them and corporate games. She was also a finalist in the Deadline or Beat Writing Category this year. Other finalist entries came from Bloomberg News, Fortune, National Journal and San Jose Mercury News.
Deadline or Beat Writing Winner
"Enron: The Demise of a Giant" by Rebecca Smith and John Emshwiller of The Wall Street Journal.
These stories started a firestorm that permanently changed how corporations and their auditors disclose financial information. This was Smith's second win in a row for deadline or beat writing. The New York Times, The Plain Dealer and Salon.com were also represented as deadline or beat writing finalists, as well as an additional entry from The Wall Street Journal.
News or Wire Service Winner
"Muddy Markets: How Companies Mislead and Manipulate Their Shareholders with Inadequate and Selective Disclosure" by Jonathan Berr, Adam Levy, Peter Robison, Russell Hubbard and Neil Roland of Bloomberg News.
Honored with the first Loeb Award in this new category, this series was ahead of the curve on the story of manipulation of shareholders through selective disclosure. CNET News.com was also a finalist, along with additional entries from Bloomberg News.
Television Winner
"The Money Trail" by Jim McGinnis, Allan Dodds Frank and Lisa Slow of Cable News Network/CNNfn.
Good range and breadth of coverage on terrorist financing that built up a clear picture over two months and included elements like the Taliban heroin that were not covered elsewhere. Other finalists included CNBC, Dateline NBC, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer and Twin Cities Public Television.