McClatchy Honored With Three National Journalism Awards

SACRAMENTO, Calif., March 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Journalists from The McClatchy Company today won three National Journalism Awards from the Scripps Howard Foundation, which cited them for excellence in Washington reporting, human interest writing and commentary.

Reporters for the McClatchy Washington Bureau received the Raymond Clapper award for Washington reporting for their groundbreaking coverage last year of the firings of nine U.S. attorneys by the Bush administration.

Contest judges noted that McClatchy's reporting linked "the unexplained firing of nine U.S. attorneys to interventions by top officials in the White House and U.S. Justice Department."

Their stories helped spark congressional investigations that led to the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and 11 others at the Justice Department and the White House.

The McClatchy Washington reporters are Marisa Taylor, Margaret Talev and Greg Gordon.

Julia O'Malley, a reporter at the Anchorage Daily News, won the Ernie Pyle award "for finding untold stories in often-overlooked places -- living rooms, courtrooms and homeless shelters, a Buddhist temple and a university's computer lab."

Jason Whitlock, a sports columnist at The Kansas City Star, won in the commentary category "for his ability to seamlessly integrate sports commentary with social commentary and to challenge widely held assumptions along the racial divide."

Ana Menendez, a columnist for The Miami Herald, was a finalist in the commentary category.

"We're appreciative of this prestigious recognition," said Gary Pruitt, McClatchy's chairman and chief executive officer. "It shows that McClatchy is practicing great journalism even during a challenging operating environment."

McClatchy was the only media company to win as many as three National Journalism Awards. Those honors follow last month's George Polk Awards for 2007, where McClatchy was the only media company with multiple wins.

Leila Fadel, McClatchy's Baghdad bureau chief, won the Polk Award for outstanding foreign reporting and The Charlotte Observer won the Polk Award for outstanding economic reporting.

"We're a mission-driven company, and our mission is public service journalism," said Howard Weaver, McClatchy's vice president for news. "All these awards recognize work to advance government accountability, citizen knowledge and community cohesion. It's the most important thing we do."

Fadel was cited for her "vivid depictions" of the military and political struggle in Iraq. "Her work provided a comprehensive array of disturbing, first-hand accounts of violence and conflict by juxtaposing the agonizing plight of families in ethnically torn neighborhoods with the braggadocio of a vengeful insurgent proud of his murderous exploits, and the carnage and sorrow among victims of Iraq's most deadly car bombing in a remote region of the country where few reporters ventured," the jurors said.

Reporters for The Charlotte Observer were recognized for a yearlong series "that exposed questionable practices by one of the nation's largest homebuilders, prompting multiple federal and state investigations, including a federal criminal investigation and an inquiry by the Securities and Exchange Commission," the jurors said. The articles, they noted, were "published long before many people had recognized the crisis that was brewing."

About McClatchy

The McClatchy Company is the third largest newspaper company in the United States, with 30 daily newspapers, approximately 50 non-dailies, and direct marketing and direct mail operations. McClatchy also operates leading local websites in each of its markets which extend its audience reach. The websites offer users information, comprehensive news, advertising, e-commerce and other services. Together with its newspapers and direct marketing products, these interactive operations make McClatchy the leading local media company in each of its premium high growth markets. McClatchy-owned newspapers include The Miami Herald, The Sacramento Bee, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, The Kansas City Star, The Charlotte Observer, and The (Raleigh) News & Observer.

McClatchy also has a portfolio of premium digital assets. The company owns and operates McClatchy Interactive, an interactive operation that provides websites with content, publishing tools and software development. McClatchy owns 14.4% of CareerBuilder, the nation's largest online job site, and owns 25.6% of Classified Ventures, a newspaper industry partnership that offers two of the nation's premier classified websites: the auto website, cars.com, and the rental site, apartments.com. McClatchy is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MNI.