Best in Business Contest-Results, 2009 contest year

PHOENIX — The Society of American Business Editors and Writers has named the winners in its 15th annual Best in Business Journalism competition, recognizing top publications and web sites and the best business news reporting during 2009.

The New York Times captured the most awards – 13.

In the entire contest, there were 163 winners out of a total of 796 entries, the second highest entry total  in the history of the contest.

The awards will be presented Saturday, March 20, here during SABEW’s 47th annual conference.

SABEW started the competition in 1995 to help set standards and recognize role models for outstanding business journalism. It has grown steadily since then with a record 842 entries two years ago.

“Some contend that good business journalism is dying. Judging by the winners of the contest, nothing could be further from the truth,” said Greg McCune, SABEW president and Thomson Reuters training manager. “Study this list of winners and you may notice the emergence of a fresh and vigorous online business media, as well as continuing excellence from some traditional media we rely on.”

Each winning entry is now being considered for SABEW’s Best of the Best awards, honoring the very best of business journalism produced at newspapers, magazines and websites during 2009. Best of the Best winners also will be announced at the March 20 Best in Business awards banquet at the Heard Museum in Phoenix.

The conference will run from March 19-21 at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University’s downtown campus. For more information about the conference, including how to register, please contact SABEW at 602-496-7862 or visit sabew.org.

The judges’ comments for all winners will be posted soon at sabew.org. Additional information about the conference and SABEW is available on the site as well.

Contest chair Beth Hunt and SABEW fiscal coordinator Vicki Edwards oversaw the competition along with the SABEW staff.

Best of the Best

* CrainsNewYork.com: “The Making of a New York Dress” in online audio/video reports
* The New York Times: “”The G.M. Bankruptcy” in breaking news for print and real-time media
* GlobalPost: “Living in the Shadows” in online projects
* Bloomberg News: “Lehman’s Lessons” in projects for print and real-time media
* The Detroit News: “GM enters bankruptcy” in breaking news for print and real-time media
* Scripps Howard News Service: “Forgive Us Our Debts” in projects for print and real-time media
* Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune: “Flipping Fraud” in projects for print and real-time media
* David Leonhardt, The New York Times in columns for print and real-time media
* Bloomberg Markets: “Big Pharma’s Crime Spree” in magazine enterprise
* Los Angeles Business Journal for general excellence in business weeklies
* Fast Company for general excellence in large magazines
* The Des Moines Register for general excellence in mid-sized newspapers
* Bloomberg Markets magazine for general excellence in small magazines

Judges for the Best of the Best portion of the contest were Marcus Brauchli, executive editor of The Washington Post; David Callaway, editor-in-chief of MarketWatch; Kai Ryssdal, host of Marketplace on National Public Radio; and Paul Steiger, editor-in-chief of ProPublica.com.

General excellence


 

Giant Newspapers
(Average daily circulation above 325,000)


Chicago Tribune

Financial Times

The New York Times

USA Today

Large Newspapers

(circulation from 225,000 to 325,000)

Detroit Free Press

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Dallas Morning News


Mid-sized Newspapers

(circulation from 125,000 to 224,999)


San Jose Mercury News

The Des Moines Register

The Detroit News


 

Small Newspapers

(circulation under 125,000)


The Salt Lake Tribune

The State (Columbia, SC)

Wichita Eagle


Weekly Business Newspapers


Los Angeles Business Journal

Puget Sound Business Journal

Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal


 

Small Magazines

(circulation under 500,000)


Bloomberg Markets

CFO magazine


 

Large Magazines

(circulation 500,000 and over)


Bloomberg BusinessWeek

Fast Company

Kiplinger’s Personal Finance


 

Small Websites

(up to 500,000 average monthly unique visitors)


Breakingviews.com

chicagobusiness.com

Ibj.com

Mid-sized Websites

(500,000-2.5 million average monthly unique visitors)


Dallas Business Journal

SmartMoney.com

Large Websites

(more than 2.5 million average monthly unique visitors)


CNBC.com

CNNMoney.com

The New York Times


Business News Reporting


Breaking News



Giant Publications


Star Tribune: “Petters Found Guilty”

The New York Times: “”The G.M. Bankruptcy”

The Wall Street Journal: “Inside-Trade Probe Snares ‘Octopussy’”


Large Publications


The Detroit Free Press: “Auto plans shredded”

The Detroit Free Press: “GM bankruptcy”

Cleveland Plain Dealer: “Feds Seize Amtrust Bank”


Mid-sized Publications


The Detroit News: “GM enters bankruptcy”

San Jose Mercury News: “Bartz named Yahoo CEO”

Las Vegas Sun: “CityCenter Saga”


Small Publications


Sarasot a(Fla.) Herald-Tribune: “Nadel Ponzi Scheme”

Honolulu (Hawaii) Star-Bulletin: “The last haul”

The Daily Herald (Everett, Wash.): “The First Flight of Boeing’s 787”


Weekly Publications


Business First of Louisville (Ky.): Ice storm stories

The Denver Business Journal: “Rocky Mountain News Shuts Down”

Washington Business Journal: Hilton Hotels’ move to Washington, D.C.


Real-time News Organizations


Associated Press: “Wells Fargo Junket”

Dow Jones Newswires: “Deep Coverage On Drug Deal”

Reuters: “H1N1 Flu: The Global Story”


Enterprise



Giant Publications


The New York Times: “he Burger That Shattered Her Life”

The Wall Street Journal: “New York Fed Chairman’s Ties”

(Minneapolis) Star Tribune: “Wasteland”


Large Publications


The Sacramento (Calif.) Bee: “Community Bank”

The Denver Post: “Survivor’s tale”

The Boston Globe: “Harvard”


Mid-sized Publications


Las Vegas Sun: “Lessons Las Vegas can learn from the Rust Belt”

The (Nashville) Tennessean: “Life on Hold”

The Charlotte Observer: “How a Board Lost a Bank”


Small Publications


Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune: “Contaminated Chinese drywall”

The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, Calif.): “SSU foundation’s private land loans”

The State (Columbia, S..C): “How the Boeing deal was done”


Weekly Publications


Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle, Wash.): “Why WaMu”

Indianapolis Business Journal: “Simon says, city does”

Pittsburgh Business Times: “Eli Lilly details payments to docs”


Real-time News Organizations


Bloomberg News: “”Diamonds Post-Lehman Have No Aura as Buffett Can’t See Recovery””

Associated Press: “Geithner’s Bankers”

Dow Jones Newswires: “US Treasury Doesn’t Disclose Bailout Tally”



Columns



Giant Publications


David Leonhardt, The New York Times

Martin Wolf, Financial Times

David Carr, The New York Times


Large Publications


Karin Price Mueller, The Star-Ledger (Newark, N.J.)

Dean Calbreath, The San Diego Union-Tribune Eileen Ambrose: The Baltimore Sun


Mid-sized Publication


Mitchell Schnurman, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Chris O’Brien, San Jose Mercury News

Bill Virgin, Seattle Post-Intelligencer


Small Publications


Josh Brodesky, Arizona Daily Star

Betty Lin-Fisher, Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal

Jon Chesto, The Patriot Ledger (Quincy, Mass.)


Weekly Publications


Greg Hinz, Crain’s Chicago Business

Greg David, Crain’s New York Business

Mike Hendricks, The Business Review (Albany, N.Y.)


Real-time News Organizations


Jonathan Weil, Bloomberg News

Matthew Goldstein, Thomson Reuters

Al Lewis, Dow Jones Newswires


Projects



Giant Publications


The New York Times: “Toxic Waters”

The New York Times: “Driven to Distraction”

The Wall Street Journal: “Beyond the Bubble”


Large Publications


Dallas Morning News: “The Cost of Care”

The Seattle Times: “Inside the collapse of WaMu”

The Denver Post: “New Frontier Bank”


Mid-sized Publications


The Miami Herald: “Cuba”

The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer: “Charity starts at the top”

Detroit News: “Grand Experiment”


Small Publications


Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune: “Flipping Fraud”

The Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette: “Grants, Graft and Greed at Workforce West Virginia”

Arizona Daily Star (Tucson, Ariz.): “Giving Tree”


Weekly Publications


Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle, Wash.): “WaMu’s Final Days”

Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle, Wash.): “Foreclosed: One week inside the crisis”

Indianapolis Business Journal: “Durham insider loans pile up”


Real-time News Organizations


Scripps Howard News Service: “Forgive Us Our Debts”

Bloomberg News: “Lehman’s Lessons”

Reuters: “Lifting the Veil on High-Frequency Trading”

Reuters: “Route to Recovery”



Magazine Enterprise



Giant


Sports Illustrated: “How (And Why) Athletes Go Broke”

Forbes: “Gilt-Edged Pensions”

SmartMoney Magazine: “My Battle for a Sales Job”


Small


Bloomberg Markets: “Big Pharma’s Crime Spree”

Traders Magazine: “Flash Point: Equities Industry Clashes over Flash and Step-Up Orders”

Bloomberg Markets: “Plundering the Amazon”


Online Excellence


 

Breaking News



Large Websites

(more than 2.5 million average monthly unique visitors)


The New York Times: “The G.M. Bankruptcy”

Bloomberg BusinessWeek.com: “Allen Stanford Coverage”


 

Medium Websites

(500,000-2.5 million average monthly unique visitors)


The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer: “Moynihan is BofA CEO”

AdAge.com: “Domino’s Boogergate”


 

Small Websites

(up to 500,000 average monthly unique visitors)


InvestmentNews: “American International Group”

pacbiztimes.com: “Affinity Bank and the Jesusita Fire”

St. Louis Business Journal: “Katz suit vs. Anheuser-Busch”


Projects



Large Websites


CNBC.com: “Boom, Bust & Blame: The Inside Story of America’s Economic Crisis”

The Associated Press: “AP Stress Index”

The New York Times: “Living With Less”


Mid-sized Websites

(500,000-2.5 million average monthly unique visitors)


GlobalPost: “Living in the Shadows”

The (Nashville) Tennessean: “Life On Hold”

GlobalPost: “Silicon Sweatshops”


Small Websites

(up to 500,000 average monthly unique visitors)


CBSMoneyWatch.com: “After the Great Recession”

CBSMoneyWatch.com: “Ultimate Job Security Guide”

chicagobusiness.com: “Road to Recovery”


Audio/Video Reports



Large Websites


The New York Times: “Flipped: Inside the Private Equity Game”

The New York Times: “The Card Game: The Deal With Overdrafts”

The Wall Street Journal: “A Crisis Without Precedent”



Mid-sized Websites

(500,000-2.5 million average monthly unique visitors)


Financial Times: “Short View Special: Anniversary of the Collapse of Lehman

Brothers”


Small Websites


CrainsNewYork.com: “The Making of a New York Dress”

Chicagobusiness.com: “Entrepreneurs in Action”


Blogs



Large Websites


The Wall Street Journal: “Real Time Economics”

The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, Calif.): “Lansner on Real Estate”

Bankrate.com: “Mortgage Matters”


Mid-sized Websites


Financial Times: “Alphaville”

The Dallas Morning News: “Airline biz”

Financial Times: “Technology”


Small Websites


CBSMoneyWatch.com: “Devil in the Details,” Kathy Kristof

mutualfundreform.com: “Building a More Secure Financial Future,” Chuck Epstein

talkingbiznews.com: Chris Roush



Creative Use of Online



Large Websites


The New York Times: “Flipped: Inside the Private Equity Game”

CNN Money.com: “Obama’s Money Moves”

MSNBC.com: “Adversity Index”


Mid-sized Websites


CreditCards.com: “Comprehensive Guide to the Credit CARD Act”

The Press-Enterprise (Riverside, Calif.): “Fleetwood: An Inland Icon”

The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer: “The Merger with Merrill”


Small Websites


Investigative Reporting Workshop: “BankTracker”

CBSMoneyWatch.com: “Ultimate Job Security Guide”

Breakingviews.com: “Downloadable Calculators”


Enterprise



Large Websites


BNET.com: “Navigating Through Uncertainty”

MarketWatch: “The New Gold Bugs”

MSNBC.com: “The View From the Auto Mall Darkens”


Mid-sized Websites


GlobalPost: “World of Trouble”


Column



Large Websites


Felix Salmon, Reuters

Carl Bialik, The Wall Street Journal

Eve Tahmincioglu, MSNBC.com


Mid-sized Websites


Ryan Sager, SmartMoney

Thomas Mucha, GlobalPost

Randall Forsyth, Barrons.com


Small Websites


Jim Jubak, MoneyShow.com

Evan Cooper, investmentnews.com

Morgan Housel, The Motley Fool


 

Student Contest


 

For stories written for professional publications


Andrew Dunn, Charlotte (N.C.) Observer, “Home scam stings owners”


For stories written for student publications


— Matthew Lynley, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, “Town lacking ‘big box’ stores”

For Questions or More Information Please Contact:

Society of American Business Editors and Writers, Inc., Warren Watson, watson@sabew.org, 602-496-5186

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