Online awards expanded

By: Editorial Staff SPJ announces 1998 Sigma Delta Chi award winners
In less than 48 hours after Pulitzer Prize announcements, The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) released the recipients of the 1998 Sigma Delta Chi awards for excellence in journalism.
Further expanding the contest for online journalism, the society presented new awards this year for Online Deadline Reporting and Online Non-Deadline Reporting.
A complete list of winners follows. The awards will be presented at the society's national convention, Oct. 3-5 in Indianapolis. At the convention, many of the award winners will lead professional development programs and discuss their work.

1998 SIGMA DELTA CHI AWARD WINNERS:

Public Service in Online Journalism: Marja Mills and Steve Duenes and the Internet staff of chicagotribune.com won the award for 'The Miracle Merchants.' The Chicago Tribune's Interactive Media department examined child sponsorship organizations and whether they lived up to their promises to change the lives of sponsored children.
Online Journalism Deadline Reporting: The award goes to APB Online and Jim Krane, Hoag Levins, Hans Chen, Tami Sheheri, Chip Beck and Mark Sauter for 'FBI Releases Sinatra Files.' Within a day of receiving 1,200 pages of paper files from the FBI, APB Online had the Sinatra dossier available at its Web site and provided commentary and analysis of the report's most important sections.
Online Journalism Non-Deadline Reporting: The award goes to CNN Interactive for 'Cold War.' Developed by more than a dozen editors, writers, and producers, the site further expands a TV documentary to create the most thorough and multimedia-rich record of Cold War history available online.
Newspaper/Wire Service Deadline Reporting: The staff of the St. Petersburg Times won the award for 'Deadly Rampage,' the newspaper's coverage of one man's 10-hour killing spree that resulted in five deaths, including the man's suicide.
Newspaper/Wire Service Non-Deadline Reporting: Barton Gellman of The Washington Post won the award for 'Shell Games: The Hunt for Iraq's Forbidden Weapons.'


Newspaper/Wire Service Investigative Reporting: Alix M. Freedman, senior special writer for The Wall Street Journal won the award for 'Population Bomb,' the story of the chemical sterilization of more than 100,000 third world women, some of them without their knowledge or against their will. Freedman reported on the controversial use of quinacrine among the world's poorest women.
Newspaper/Wire Service Feature Reporting: Gary M. Pomerantz, staff writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution won the award for '9 Minutes, 20 Seconds,' the story of a plane crash-and what happened afterward.
Newspaper/Wire Service Editorial Writing: The reporters and editorial board of the New York Daily News won the award for a series of editorials defining the many problems plaguing the campuses of the City University of New York system and making clear recommendations for change.
Newspaper/Wire Service: Washington Correspondence St. Petersburg Times staff writers Bill Adair and David Dahl won the award for 'The representative, the millionaire and the luxury car,' their report of a Florida Congresswoman's questionable activities. Especially noteworthy was the fact that not one unnamed source was used.
Newspaper/Wire Service Foreign Correspondence: Dean E. Murphy, Johannesburg bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times, won the award for 'Africa: From Silent Shame to Shattering Blasts.'
Newspaper/Wire Service Public Service in Journalism, Circulation over 100,000: Investigative reporter Jerry Mitchell of The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss. won the award for 'Crimes of the Past.' Mitchell's series helped bring a Klan killer to justice, prompted the reexamination of the 1964 deaths of three young civil rights workers, and revealed the secrets of the now-open Mississippi Sovereignty Commission files.
Newspaper/Wire Service Public Service in Journalism, Circulation under 100,000: The staff of the Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal won the award for 'Dividing Lines: Race Relations in Forsyth County.' The eight-week series of more than 120 stories told of local race relations, including an examination of the paper's own not-so-pretty record on race relations.
Magazine Reporting: Staff writer George Anastasia of The Philadelphia Inquirer won the award for 'In Their Own Words,' the story of Thomas Capano's murder of Anne Marie Fahey.
Public Service in Magazine Journalism: Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele of Time magazine won the award for a series on the folly of government handouts to corporations.
Photography: Daniel A. Anderson of The Orange County (Calif.) Register won the award for his photo essay, 'Motel Children.' The photos document the hunger, poverty, drug and alcohol abuse, society neglect and violence that are part of the lives of the children who live in Orange County's aging residential motels.
Editorial Cartoons: Jack Higgins of the Chicago Sun-Times won the award for his collection of editorial cartoons.
Informational Graphics: William Pitzer, David Perlmutt, Jo Miller, Brenda Pinnell, Jean Marie Brown and Tom Tozer of The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer won the award for 'Monitor.' The doubletruck graphic provided readers with an in-depth look at one of North Carolina's treasures and the efforts to recover part of the world's 'first modern warship.'
Public Service in Newsletter Journalism: Catalyst magazine and the reporting team of Linda Lenz, Veronica Anderson, Debra Williams, Elizabeth Duffrin, Dan Weissmann, Grant Pick and Lisa Lewis won the award for 'School Reform: What Matters Most.' The series identifies the building blocks of good elementary schools and measures the policies and practices of the Chicago public schools against those standards.
Research About Journalism: James S. Ettema and Theodore L. Glasser won the award for 'Custodians of Conscience: Investigative Journalism and Public Virtue.' The book documents that by pursuing stories that raise moral indignation, reporters help set social agendas.
The public service awards went to journalists at The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss.; the Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal; WAMU-FM, American University Radio in Washington, D.C.; WCPO-TV in Cincinnati, Ohio; KELO-TV in Sioux Falls, S.D., Catalyst magazine; and the Chicago Tribune Interactive Media department.
Founded in 1909 as Sigma Delta Chi, the SPJ is the nation's largest and most broad-based journalism organization. SPJ is a not-for-profit organization made up of 13,000 members dedicated to encouraging the free practice of journalism, stimulating high standards of ethical behavior, and perpetuating a free press.

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