Posted by chicagomedia.org on February 17, 2009 at 10:14:09:
Chicago Tribune's Paul Salopek wins George Polk Award; Chicago Public Radio's 'This American Life' also honored
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Chicago Tribune correspondent Paul Salopek and Alex Blumberg, a producer for Chicago Public Radio's "This American Life," are among this year's winners of the prestigious George Polk Awards, announced Monday by Long Island University.
A two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner, Salopek was honored for international reporting. His series last fall, "Waging War and Peace in Africa," uncovered United States anti-terrorism initiatives to pre-empt expected radical activity. In some case, he revealed, the U.S. efforts actually fueled anti-Americanism among previously moderate Muslims.
Blumberg and National Public Radio correspondent Adam Davidson won the Polk Award for radio reporting. "A Giant Pool of Money," a special collaboration between NPR News and "This American Life, explained the subprime mortgage crisis as well as anyone has.
The Polk Awards also honored reporting by Chicago Tribune parent Tribune Co.'s Los Angeles Times, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, New York Times, Detroit Free Press, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle Times and the East Valley Tribune of Mesa, Ariz., Fast Company magazine, "60 Minutes" and documentary-maker Stefan Forbes, whose “Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story” aired on PBS' "Frontline."
The Polk Awards, including a career achievement prize for author Gay Talese, will be given out at a luncheon April 16 in New York City. Since 1949, the award has honored the memory and tradition of George Polk, a CBS correspondent killed while covering the civil war in Greece in 1948.
(Phil Rosenthal, Chicago Tribune)