Old habits die hard*: Feeling super proud this morning of my alma mater: The prestigious George Polk award for magazine reporting went to James Verini, whose exploration of United Nations intervention in the Democratic Republic of Congo appeared in National Geographic online.
Polk awards, now in its 66th year of honoring special achievement in journalism, were announced Sunday, Feb. 15.
“The awards place a premium on investigative and enterprising reporting that gains attention and achieves results. They were established in 1949 by Long Island University (LIU) to commemorate George Polk, a CBS correspondent murdered in 1948 while covering the Greek civil war,” according to LIU’s news release.
The NYT quoted John Darnton, curator of the awards and former Times editor, saying this year’s winners reflected a rise in team projects, deep investigations and sophisticated online presentation, in the context of a “huge year for news,” in which journalists often put their safety at risk.
* I spent nearly 17 years getting out the news about National Geographic to staff, partners, and retirees as co-founder and editor of the Intranet. Great news, like this Polk recognition of Geographic journalists’ courage, is still something that thrills me to share.