Winner – The Wall Street Journal: The middle seat
- Contributor – Scott McCartney
- Judges’ Comments – Scott McCartney’s “The middle seat” stands out because it is creative, engaging and fun for readers. The writer clearly owns the airline transportation beat and his stories are so polished and well done that you have to marvel at what you are reading. The entry includes a wonderful first-person account of flying the world’s longest commercial flight, a story in which he challenged airline CEOs to sit in and defend their own cramped coach seats, and a thorough analysis and ranking of the nation’s airports. Simply put, “The middle seat” is transportation journalism at its finest.
