Working under intense deadline pressure, Jodi Enda wrote a poignant story about an emotional day in Kosovo. To witness the President of the United States urging cheering refugees to wait until it was safe to return home, Enda endured a hairaising auto ride, hostile Macedonian guards, and a one mile sprint--laptop and notebooks in tow, arriving at the site at the same moment as the President. The story that resulted is in the finest tradition of the Merriman Smith Award.

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    Gary Nurenberg

    KTLA-TV, Tribune Broadcasting

    The reporting was accurate, balanced and fast. With obligations to other news programs and with the time needed to edit the videotape, Gary Nurenberg had less than an hour to write the story. "Monica Lewinsky Deposed" is a strong example of what television journalists can do to put breaking events into perspective, combining tape from various places with smart editing, clear writing and--above all--a strong and sophisticated understanding of the story.

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    The 2000 Aldo Beckman Award

    Jeanne Cummings
    The Wall Street Journal

    The judges found Jeanne Cummings had a deep understanding of White House operations and operatives. Her Wall Street Journal stories covered a variety of issues and demonstrated her versatility in both reporting and writing. Cummings may be young, but her writing shows great wisdom. She has an outstanding ability to paint pictures with words and make the reader feel as if he or she is witness to the insider decision making process.

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    The 2000 Edgar A. Poe Award

    Sam Roe
    The Toledo Blade

    Sam Roe of the Toledo Blade is cited for exposing a major health risk to nuclear weapons plant workers that was concealed by the U.S. government for half a century.

    In nominating Roe, Blade Executive Editor Ron Royhab said: "The series, the culmination of a 22-month investigation by Mr. Roe, exposed a 50-year pattern of deliberate and dangerous misconduct by the U.S. government and the American beryllium industry - wrongdoing that caused the injuries and deaths of dozens of workers producing the metal, which is used in nuclear bombs and weapons."

    Since the series ran, the Blade said, the government conceded for the first time last January that American workers had developed a wide range of cancers from radiation exposure at nuclear weapons plants - the main finding of the beryllium-related study ordered by President Clinton. In February, Clinton's 2001 budget asked for compensation for beryllium victims.


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