Fwd: GWW/The Lens win nat'l Murrow Award

[Peggy Holman]

Congratulations to Linda Jue!

Peggy

Begin forwarded message:

From: Linda Jue <nvijdi...@gmail.com>

Subject: Fwd: GWW/The Lens win nat'l Murrow Award

Date: June 12, 2012 5:27:05 PM PDT

To: Linda Jue <nvijdi...@gmail.com>

THE G.W. WILLIAMS CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM AND THE LENS JOIN FORCES TO WIN NATIONAL MURROW AWARD

 

NEW ORLEANS, LA :  The G.W. Williams Center for Independent Journalism, which develops national investigative and in-depth reporting projects, and The Lens, the New Orleans area’s first nonprofit public-interest newsroom, have won a national Edward R. Murrow Award in the Online News Operation: Audio Investigative Reporting category. The Radio Television Digital News Association sponsors the annual Murrow awards in recognition of excellence in broadcast and online news.

The winning story examines the struggles of one 9th Ward Homeowner, Kisa Holmes. The story documents Holmes’ ultimately unsuccessful efforts to rebuild her Hurricane Katrina-ravaged home after complying with her mortgage company’s instructions to use the bulk of her insurance proceeds to pay off her loan. 

The national award comes on the heels of a regional Murrow award that this story won in April from RTDNA.

The print story and related audio piece were produced by Bob Butler, a fellow with the San Francisco-based G.W. Williams Center, and The Lens’ Jessica Williams. Butler worked on the project between other reporting assignments for two years before The Lens graciously joined the effort. He wrote the story with Williams and produced the audio version.

“This story was not being covered in great detail in New Orleans,” he said. “The banks convinced people to pay off their mortgage – keeping the bank whole but leaving people with a piece of property they couldn’t afford to fix.”

“New Orleanians have all dealt with, or know someone who’s dealt with, the confusing bureaucracy that was Road Home, that was FEMA,” said New Orleans native Williams. “Some of us got lost in the process, and we couldn’t get back in our homes…for years,” she said.“Kisa’s story, though it had unique struggles, was a reflection of that, as well as a reflection of our determination.” 

Managing Editor Steve Beatty said The Lens is humbled by the national award.

“More importantly, we’re honored that Kisa Holmes trusted us to tell her story,” he said. “This award is a testament to the investigative work we do and to our willingness to take on these kinds of projects, which educate our community and create a record for a national audience.”

The award is strong recognition of the importance of innovative partnerships and collaborations in investigative journalism, said Linda Jue, the director and editor at the G.W.Williams Center.

“The whole nature of the new-media world is about collaboration,” Jue said. “Nonprofit centers like ours are struggling in an anemic funding environment to go after untold stories like this one. This was a story everybody in town knew about, but you couldn’t read about it in the local newspaper.”

Funding for this story came from the Ford Foundation and 21st Century Foundation, supporters of the G. W. Williams Center. The Lens is financed through a variety of foundations and private donations and is a project of the Washington, D.C.- based Center for Public Integrity. Additional funding for this story was provided by the Fund for Investigative Journalism.

Linda Jue
Executive Director & Editor

G.W. Williams Center for Independent Journalism
222 Sutter St., Suite 600
San Francisco, CA 94108
415/321-1733
Fax: 415/321-1701

A project of the Foundation for National Progress