2007 Finalists

Public Service

The Washington Post

For its extensive examination of waste and abuse in the nation’s farm subsidy system, prodding Congress to address the need for fundamental reform.

The Birmingham News, AL

For the work of Brett Blackledge that exposed cronyism and corruption in the state's two-year college system, resulting in the dismissal of the chancellor and other corrective action. (Moved by the Board to the Investigative Reporting category.)

Breaking News Reporting

Staff of The Denver Post

For its compelling and notably human coverage of back-to-back blizzards that trapped travelers and paralyzed the region.

Staff of Courier-Journal, Louisville, KY

For its clear and authoritative reporting on the crash of a Comair commuter jet that killed 49 people.

Staff of The Denver Post

For its compelling and notably human coverage of back-to-back blizzards that trapped travelers and paralyzed the region.

Investigative Reporting

Ken Armstrong, Justin Mayo and Steve Miletich of The Seattle Times

For their series that exposed how the improper sealing of hundreds of lawsuits hid information vital to public safety, and resulted in remedial judicial steps.

Michael J. Berens, Julia Sommerfeld and Carol Ostrom of The Seattle Times

For their probe of sexual misconduct by health-care professionals that included creation of an extensive online database of offenders and caused a tightening of state regulation.

Lisa Chedekel and Matthew Kauffman of Hartford Courant

For their in-depth reports on suicide among American soldiers in Iraq, leading to congressional and military action to address mental health problems raised in the stories.

Explanatory Reporting

Joanne Kimberlin and Bill Sizemore of The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, VA

For their provocative examination of the United States' increasing reliance on private military personnel.

Staff of The New York Times

For its multi-faceted explanation of the growing menace of diabetes, especially among the poor and vulnerable, that elicited a range of public and private responses.

Local Reporting

Staff of The Boston Globe

For its well documented exposure, in print and online, of unscrupulous debt collectors, causing two firms to close and prompting action by state officials.

Fred Schulte and June Arney of The Baltimore Sun

For their reports, in print and online, about abuses under an archaic state law that threatened to turn hundreds out of their homes.

National Reporting

Maurice Possley and Steve Mills of Chicago Tribune

For their investigation of a 1989 execution in Texas that strongly suggests an innocent man was killed by lethal injection.

Les Zaitz, Jeff Kosseff and Bryan Denson of The Oregonian, Portland, OR

For their disclosure of mismanagement and other abuses in federally-subsidized programs for disabled workers, stirring congressional action.

International Reporting

Staff of Los Angeles Times

For its courageous chronicling of Iraq's descent into what the newspaper labeled "civil war."

Anthony Shadid of The Washington Post

For his vivid and insightful coverage of conflict in Lebanon that wove together frontline dispatches, personal history and analysis.

Feature Writing

Christopher Goffard of The St. Petersburg Times

For his fresh and compelling stories about a young public defender and his daily challenges.

Inara Verzemnieks of The Oregonian, Portland, OR

For her witty and perceptive portfolio of features on an array of everyday topics.

Commentary

Ruth Marcus of The Washington Post

For her intelligent and incisive commentary on a range of subjects, using a voice that can be serious or playful.

Joe Nocera of The New York Times

For his piercing, authoritative columns on business, often spotlighting misdeeds and flaws in corporate culture.

Criticism

Christopher Knight of Los Angeles Times

For his pieces on art that reflect meticulous reporting, aesthetic judgment and authoritative voice

Mark Swed of Los Angeles Times

For his passionate music criticism, marked by resonant writing and an ability to give life to the people behind a performance.

Editorial Writing

Jane Healy of The Orlando Sentinel

For her persuasive heavily reported editorials on development projects that imperiled Florida's wetlands and wildlife.

Sebastian Mallaby of The Washington Post

For his eloquent, rigorously researched editorials on rising inequality in America.

Editorial Cartooning

Nick Anderson of The Houston Chronicle

For his pungent cartoons on an array of issues, and for his bold use of animation.

Mike Thompson of Detroit Free Press

For his compelling cartoons that rely on rich detail and deft caricature to make their point and for using animation to widen his impact.

Breaking News Photography

Staff of Associated Press

For its breathtaking images of brutal warfare between Israel and Hezbollah.

Michael Bryant of The Philadelphia Inquirer

For his poignant photographs of the devastating injury to Barbaro, the famed racehorse.

Feature Photography

Mary F. Calvert of The Washington Times

For her haunting depiction of sub-Sahara African women afflicted with fistula after childbirth.

Gary Coronado of Palm Beach Post

For his vivid images of Central Americans who, desperate to enter America illegally, risk their lives leaping on Mexican freight trains rumbling northward.