Finalist: Staff of California Watch
For its rigorous probe of deficient earthquake protection in the construction of public schools across the state, telling the story with words, graphics, videos and other tools.
Winners
Prize Winner in Local Reporting in 2012:
Sara Ganim and members of The Patriot-News Staff
For courageously revealing and adeptly covering the explosive Penn State sex scandal involving former football coach Jerry Sandusky.
Local Reporting
Finalists
Nominated as finalists in Local Reporting in 2012:
A.M. Sheehan and Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling
For their tenacious exposure of disgraceful conditions in federally-supported housing in a small rural community that, within hours, triggered a state investigation.
The Jury
The Jury
Sherry Chisenhall(Chair )
editor and vice president, news
Nicole Carroll
vice president, news and executive editor
Kevin Dale
news director
Jane Hirt
managing editor
John Winn Miller
publisher
Debra Adams Simmons
editor
William Snyder*
professor and chair, photojournalism
Winners in Local Reporting
Frank Main, Mark Konkol and John J. Kim
For their immersive documentation of violence in Chicago neighborhoods, probing the lives of victims, criminals and detectives as a widespread code of silence impedes solutions.
Raquel Rutledge
For her penetrating reports on the fraud and abuse in a child-care program for low-wage working parents that fleeced taxpayers and imperiled children, resulting in a state and federal crackdown on providers.
Detroit Free Press Staff, and notably Jim Schaefer and M.L. Elrick
For their uncovering of a pattern of lies by Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick that included denial of a sexual relationship with his female chief of staff, prompting an investigation of perjury that eventually led to jail terms for the two officials.
David Umhoefer
For his stories on the skirting of tax laws to pad pensions of county employees, prompting change and possible prosecution of key figures.
2012 Prize Winners
No award
No award
Manning Marable
An exploration of the legendary life and provocative views of one of the most significant African-Americans in U.S. history, a work that separates fact from fiction and blends the heroic and tragic.
John Lewis Gaddis
An engaging portrait of a globetrotting diplomat whose complicated life was interwoven with the Cold War and America's emergence as the world's dominant power.
Tracy K. Smith
A collection of bold, skillful poems, taking readers into the universe and moving them to an authentic mix of joy and pain.