Article on Pulitzer Prize
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Darryl Webb, Tribune
The Tribune won a Pulitzer Prize, the most prestigious award in
journalism, for a five-part series that exposed how police protection
suffered as Sheriff Joe Arpaio focused on efforts to combat illegal
immigration.
The series was the co-winner of the Pulitzer Prize for local reporting.
Tribune reporter Ryan Gabrielson and former Tribune reporter Paul
Giblin produced the five-part series “Reasonable Doubt,” which exposed
slow emergency response times and lax criminal enforcement as the
sheriff dedicated more of his agency’s time and resources to seeking
out and arresting illegal immigrants.
“This is about the only word to describe it – unbelievable,” Gabrielson
said in the Tribune newsroom a few minutes after the prizes were
announced.
“This award is for the entire East Valley Tribune, all of the newsroom
staff that did so much work that allowed us the time to do this
investigation,” Gabrielson said, adding the project took about six
months to complete.
The Pulitzer committee praised Gabrielson and Giblin for “their adroit
use of limited resources to reveal, in print and online, how a popular
sheriff’s focus on immigration enforcement endangered investigation of
violent crimes and other aspects of public safety.”
The series was published in July.
The Tribune shares the prize
with the Detroit Free Press, which was
honored for its reporting that uncovered a pattern of lies by Detroit
Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick that included denial of a sexual relationship
that prompted a perjury investigation.
Giblin, now a senior political editor and co-founder of The Arizona
Guardian, said he was stunned at getting the news while he was covering
an immigration hearing in Phoenix.
“It's something I never even allowed myself to think about,” Giblin
said of winning a Pulitzer. “I never thought it was possible.”
Like Gabrielson, Giblin said much of the credit goes to Patti Epler,
former Tribune metro editor who oversaw the project.
Executive editor Chris Coppola, who was managing editor at the time the
series was produced, said:
“This series by Ryan and Paul was the result of an exhaustive
examination of public records and interviews with numerous sources,
including many within the sheriff’s office, to shed more light on an
issue of growing importance both nationally and right here in our
communities. It’s gratifying that the Pulitzer judges recognized that
effort with this honor.
“I know many of our readers appreciated what this series brought to
light, while others were critical of our reporting, but in the end, the
Tribune helped engage more people within our community on the topic,’’
Coppola said.
Jim Ripley, who was executive editor=2
0when the series was published and
has since retired from the paper, said:
“I am gratified beyond measure. Over the last year, the newsroom was
hit by one shock wave after another amid a crumbling economy and new
competitive media forces. And yet through it all our journalists never
ever let up in keeping their focus on local, watchdog journalism. Now,
the whole country knows what was done here and what is done here.”
Julie Moreno, publisher of the Tribune, said the Pulitzer Prize is a
recognition of the newspaper’s commitment to quality journalism and its
readers.
“It’s just an incredible testament to the work that was done on that
story and it’s nice to see our journalism being recognized in such a
prestigious way,” Moreno said. “It does speak to the commitment we have
to serving the readers in our community with quality journalism.”
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/138178
April 20, 2009