SABEW Best in Business Winners Announced

SABEW Best in Business Winners Announced

COLUMBIA, Mo., March 28 /PRNewswire/ -- The Society of American Business Editors and Writers has named the winners in its 11th annual Best in Business contest, which recognizes the best overall publications, as well as best breaking news, enterprise and special projects reporting in business journalism during 2004.

The contest received 643 entries from daily newspapers, business weekly newspapers, magazines, wire services, and business news online sites. This year, SABEW added a contest honoring the best business stories written by journalism students.

Highlights of the contest included:

* BLOOMBERG NEWS and CRAIN'S CHICAGO BUSINESS led all news organizations, winning three Best in Business awards each. Eight news organizations won two awards including -- The Charlotte Observer, Business Courier (Cincinnati), Detroit News, Star Telegram (Fort Worth), Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Puget Sound Business Journal, The Washington Post and USA Today.

* OVERALL EXCELLENCE: 20 daily and weekly newspapers were named Best in Business winners for overall excellence, and 8 were recognized with certificates of merit. The San Jose Mercury News won for overall excellence for the sixth straight year and USA Today for the fifth consecutive year. The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, Calif.), Crain's Chicago Business and The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) won overall excellence awards for the fourth straight year.

* BREAKING NEWS: 16 news organizations were Best in Business winners for Breaking News coverage. This category recognizes superior work produced under tight deadlines. Repeat winners from last year in this category were Bloomberg News and Dow Jones Newswires.

* ENTERPRISE: 17 news organizations were Best in Business winners for Enterprise, which honors a single story that is a scoop, an exclusive interview, a timely analysis or column. The Wall Street Journal won in this category for the fifth consecutive year. Crain's Chicago Business received two awards in this category.

* PROJECTS: 16 news organizations were Best in Business winners for Special Projects, which honors a series of stories that look at an issue in depth. The Akron Beacon Journal and the Commercial Appeal (Memphis, Tenn.) are repeat winners in this category. Bloomberg News received two awards in this category.

The SABEW Best in Business contest was started in 1995 to help set standards and recognize role models for outstanding business journalism.

Awards will be presented Sunday, May 1, in Seattle during SABEW's 42nd annual conference. Judges comments for all winners will be posted soon on http://www.sabew.org/. Additional information about the conference and SABEW is available at that site as well.

Best in Business winners for overall excellence, by category and listed in alphabetical order are:

GIANT Newspapers (average daily circulation 375,001 and above) Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minn.) Newsday (Long Island, N.Y.) USA Today Certificate of Merit: Star-Ledger (Newark, N.J.) and San Francisco Chronicle

LARGE Newspapers (circulation between 250,001 and 375,000) Detroit Free Press Star-Telegram (Fort Worth) San Jose Mercury News Certificates of Merit: The St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Kansas City Star

MEDIUM Newspapers (circulation between 125,001 and 250,000) The Charlotte Observer Hartford Courant News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) The Record (Hackensack, N.J.) Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.) Certificate of Merit: Akron Beacon Journal

SMALL Newspapers (circulation 125,000 and below) The Oakland Tribune (California) The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, Ca.) The State (Columbia, S.C.) The Times (Northwest Indiana) Certificates of Merit: Arizona Daily Star (Tucson, Ariz.) and Florida Today (Melbourne)

WEEKLY Business Newspapers Business Courier (Cincinnati) Crain's Chicago Business Los Angeles Business Journal Philadelphia Business Journal Puget Sound Business Journal Certificate of Merit: The Business Journal Serving Greater Milwaukee

Best in Business winners for Breaking News coverage, by category and listed in alphabetical order:

GIANT Newspapers Chicago Tribune for Sears/Kmart deal Houston Chronicle for the indictment of former Enron Chairman Ken Lay The Washington Post for Fannie Mae coverage

LARGE Newspapers The Sun (Baltimore): "End of the Line: GM to close plant" Plain Dealer (Cleveland): "A steel giant is born" Rocky Mountain News: "New beer buddies"

MEDIUM Newspapers The Charlotte Observer: USAirways bankruptcy Honolulu Advertiser: Aloha Airlines bankruptcy

SMALL Newspapers The Intelligencer (Philadelphia suburbs): "Practices of DVI 'highly' suspect" The Times (Northwest Indiana): "Steel: Two left along the lake" Worcester Telegram & Gazette: "St. Vincent Hospital for sale"

WEEKLY Newspapers Business Journal of Kansas City: Sprint-Nextel merger Charlotte Business Journal: Bank of America naming rights for NFL stadium Orlando Business Journal: Hurricane Charley's destruction

REAL-TIME News Organizations Bloomberg News: Merck's decision to pull Vioxx. Dow Jones Newswires: Kmart-Sears deal

Best in Business winners for Enterprise, by category and listed in alphabetical order:

GIANT Newspapers The Denver Post: "The High Cost of Gold" by Michael Riley and Greg Griffin The Wall Street Journal: "Embassy Row" by Glenn R. Simpson The Washington Post: "D.C. Slow to Reduce its Ranks of Jobless" by Neil Irwin

LARGE Newspapers The Detroit News: "Driven Abroad" by Ron French Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "Displace Pelton workers forge new lives" by Rick Romell and Joel Dresang The Times-Picayune (New Orleans): "A family's quest for answers," by Stewart Yerton

MEDIUM Newspapers Omaha World-Herald: Wheel of Fraud" by Steve Jordan South Florida Sun-Sentinel: "Pirates Still Prey on Small Firms" by Doreen Hemlock The Tampa Tribune: "A Formula for Disaster" by Baird Helgeson and Doug Stanley

SMALL Newspapers Mobile (Alabama) Register: "The Condo Game" by Ryan Dezember The Roanoke (Virginia) Times: "Facing the Ax" by Lois Caliri York (Pennsylvania) Daily Record: "Shopping Around" by Sharon Smith

WEEKLY Newspapers Atlanta Business Chronicle: "A $19 Million Problem for Georgia Tech's Biz School" by Mary Jane Credeur Crain's Chicago Business: "Why Can't Wrigley Make No-Stick Gum" by Julie Jargon Crain's Chicago Business, "Money left on table" by Steve Daniels

REAL-TIME News Organizations Associated Press: "The First Whistleblower" by Adam Geller Bankrate.com: "Home ownership and Bush's second term" by Holden Lewis. TheStreet.com: "Weighing Biovail's Claims" by Adam Feuerstein

Best in Business winners for Special Projects, by category and listed in alphabetical order:

GIANT Newspapers The Boston Globe: "Closed for Business: Deals but No Debate in Congress" USA Today: "Internet Security"

LARGE Newspapers The Detroit News: "Danger Overhead" Star-Telegram (FortWorth): "Regulation of Refineries" Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "Dream Derailed"

MEDIUM Newspapers Akron Beacon Journal, "Life and Debt" The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY): "J.D. Byrider" The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, Tenn): "A future foreclosed"

SMALL Newspapers Anchorage (Alaska) Daily News: "Alaska Attorney General Under Fire" Wisconsin State Journal (Madison): "Threat From Brazil" Portland Press Herald (Portland, Maine): "Smuggling a deadly virus"

WEEKLY Newspapers Business Courier (Cincinnati): "Wal-Mart is Coming: Should You Be Happy?" Puget Sound Business Journal: "Nonprofit Payoff" San Francisco Business Times: "Business Crack the Code" Certificate of Merit: San Francisco Business Times: "The Terror Economy"

REAL-TIME News Organizations Bloomberg News: "Bowling for Palestine" Bloomberg News: "Investment Conflict on Wall Street" CNET News: "Breaking Digital Deadlock" Certificate of Merit: CNBC on MSN Money: "Bankruptcy Boom" and CNBC on MSN Money: "Basics Credit Series"

STUDENT CONTEST Daily Tar Heel, University of North Carolina: "Rising Tensions lead CIO to resign" by John Frank and Emily Steel Baruch College: "First Down in Midtown" by Rosa Caballero and Karah Woodward Daily Herald (Arlington, Illinois): "Learning curve, Exchange traders give up jobs to go back to school" by Hilary Potkewitz

Source: SABEW

CONTACT: Greg McCune, contest co-chair, +1-312-408-8701, or Gail DeGeorge, contest co-chair, +1-954-356-4661, or Carrie Paden, SABEW executive director, +1-573-882-8985, all for SABEW

Web site: http://www.sabew.org/

------- Profile: Ent