2009 Berger Award Winner

Brendan McCarthy, New Orleans’ Times-Picayune

New York, NY (May 6, 2009) — Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism today announced that Brendan McCarthy, a reporter at New Orleans’ Times-Picayune, has been named the winner of the 2009 Mike Berger Award. The prize, named after the late New York Times reporter Meyer “Mike” Berger, is annually conferred by the Journalism School for the best in-depth, human-interest reporting.

McCarthy's eight-part series, “Homicide 37,” chronicled the murder of 17-year-old Michael Zarders and the aftermath of this tragedy in New Orleans. Each installment ran approximately 700 words and read like a detective novel, capturing the attention of its readers. McCarthy and photographer Michael DeMocker spent four months on the series, which also benefited from a strong interactive presentation on nola.com.

McCarthy's stories evoked Berger's era because of the strong use of scene and the development of the various characters. The series differedfrom many police stories that are submitted for prizes. In the end, the grand jury failed to indict anyone in the killing, and "Homicide 37" was not solved. Meyer Berger would have recognized the human side of this difficult story that deeply affected the family, the investigating officers who tried so hard to solve the murder, and ultimately the city of New Orleans.

Nicholas Lemann, dean of the Journalism School, will present McCarthy with the award, along with a $1,000 honorarium, on Tuesday, May 19 during the school’s annual Journalism Day celebration.

“This award,” said Lemann, “honors exceptional writing on the lives of everyday people.”

Read Brendan McCarthy's remarks at the Berger award ceremony