Fall 1997
The Batten Award is Renewed
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| 1997 Batten Award Winners |
Next year’s award ceremonies for the first time will move out of Washington, D.C. The Pew Center will co-host the award with Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism May 12 in Chicago. The Pew Center will seek other sites around the country to hold the award ceremonies in 1999 and 2000. The Batten Award was inaugurated in 1995 to help spotlight the nation’s best civic journalism efforts. The first prize was awarded in honor of Batten himself, former chief executive of the Knight-Ridder newspaper chain and a pioneer in the rise of civic journalism. A national advisory board of journalists has split the prize in the last two years. In 1996 the winners were The Charlotte Observer, the Kansas City Star, and the Argus Leader, in Sioux Falls, SD. Winning in 1997 were The Journal Star in Peoria, IL, the Bradenton (FL) Herald, and the Rochester (NY) Democrat and Chronicle. The deadline for 1998 applicants will be Feb. 15, 1998. Call the Pew Center for more information: 202-331-3200.
The Pew Charitable Trusts has renewed funding for another three years for the annual $25,000 Batten Award for Excellence in Civic Journalism and accompanying symposium.