Finalist: The Plain Dealer , by Regina Brett
For her range of compelling columns that move the heart, challenge authority and often trigger action while giving readers deeper insight into life's challenges.
Winners
Prize Winner in Commentary in 2009:
Eugene Robinson
For his eloquent columns on the 2008 presidential campaign that focus on the election of the first African-American president, showcasing graceful writing and grasp of the larger historic picture.
Commentary
Finalists
Nominated as finalists in Commentary in 2009:
Paul Krugman
For his prophetic columns on economic peril during a year of financial calamity, blending the scholarly knowledge of a distinguished economist with the skill of a wordsmith.
The Jury
The Jury
Rosemary Goudreau(chair )
former editorial page editor, Tampa Tribune, president, ProCitizen Media
Nancy Barnes
editor and senior vice president
Meg Downey
managing editor
Rick Doyle
editor
Karen Brown Dunlap
president
David Ledford
executive editor and vice president of news
Matthew Winkler
editor-in-chief
Winners in Commentary
Steven Pearlstein
For his insightful columns that explore the nation's complex economic ills with masterful clarity.
Cynthia Tucker
For her courageous, clear-headed columns that evince a strong sense of morality and persuasive knowledge of the community.
Nicholas D. Kristof
For his graphic, deeply reported columns that, at personal risk, focused attention on genocide in Darfur and that gave voice to the voiceless in other parts of the world.
Connie Schultz
For her pungent columns that provided a voice for the underdog and underprivileged.
2009 Prize Winners
Patrick Farrell
For his provocative, impeccably composed images of despair after Hurricane Ike and other lethal storms caused a humanitarian disaster in Haiti.
W.S. Merwin
A collection of luminous, often tender poems that focus on the profound power of memory.
Las Vegas Sun, and notably the courageous reporting by Alexandra Berzon
For the exposure of the high death rate among construction workers on the Las Vegas Strip amid lax enforcement of regulations, leading to changes in policy and improved safety conditions.
Staff
For its swift and sweeping coverage of a sex scandal that resulted in the resignation of Gov. Eliot Spitzer, breaking the story on its Web site and then developing it with authoritative, rapid-fire reports.