Paul Tobenkin Memorial Award

2009 Tobenkin Award winner: The Chauncey Bailey Project

The Chauncey Bailey Project was conceived to probe the assassination of an Oakland journalist who was investigating a business called Your Black Muslim Bakery.

The project’s work, which appeared in The Oakland Tribune and on the websites of the Center for Investigative Journalism, The Maynard Institute for Journalism Education and the New America Media Association, is the result of a unique collaboration of a number of journalists and Bay Area news organizations.

“The work, the results, and impact of the Bailey project represents the value of investigative reporting to our democracy, “said Robert J. Rosenthal, the executive director of the Center for Investigative Journalism who served as the executive editor of the project.

The Paul Tobenkin Memorial Award was established at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism in 1959 -- during the heart of the civil rights movement – to honor the New York Herald reporter’s work and recognize outstanding achievements in reporting on racial or religious hatred, intolerance or discrimination in the United States. It is the highest award the Journalism School bestows on the coverage of race, bigotry and discrimination.

Past Winners

Past awards highlighted the work of The Denver Post, The Los Angeles Times and The Chicago Reporter for racial and ethnic reporting that exposed uncovered discrimination and challenged the status quo. The Let's Do It Better! Workshop on Journalism, Race and Ethnicity also incorporated the Tobenkin Award in its list of workshop honorees.

Lawless Lands: Michael Riley, a reporter for The Denver Post, was awarded the 2008 Tobenkin Award for “Lawless Lands,” a series that investigated how a dysfunctional federal justice system allowed serious American Indian reservation crimes, such as murder and rape, go unpunished.

Chicago Matters: The Chicago Reporter and its editor and publisher, Alysia Tate, received the 2006 Tobenkin Award for its project, “Chicago Matters,” a public information multimedia series initiated and funded by the Chicago Community Trust. In 2005, the Tobenkin Award honored the work of Steve Hymon, Mitchell Landsberg, Charles Ornstein, Tracy Weber and Robert Gauthier of The Los Angeles Times for their Pulitzer Prize-winning five-part series documenting the mismanagement and malpractice at the Martin Luther King, Jr./Drew Medical Center in Los Angeles, which opened after the 1965 Watts riots to address the lack of medical facilities in the community. Tshortcomings and the political conditions that thwarted effective reform. Follow-up articles, editorials by Mary Engel and commentary by columnist Steve Lopez were also recognized.

History

The first award was given in 1961 to Newsday Correspondent Bonnie Angelo for her series, “The Battle for Prince Edward, Virginia.” At the time, Prince Edward County shut down its public school system to avoid integration as ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court. Angelo was cited for her “well reported, well documented and researched and extremely well written series” that brought quick action by the U.S. government and aid from Long Island residents to help black students unable to attend schools.

The award carries a $1,000 gift and plaque.

Contact:
Associate Dean Arlene Morgan
Columbia Graduate School of Journalism
2950 Broadway
New York, NY 10027
am494@columbia.edu
212-854-5377