February 28, 2007

APA Announces Winners of 47th Annual Journalism Awards

CHICAGO — Local newspapers have a long tradition of muckraking, but muckraking doesn't have to focus on corruption. Sometimes, the subject is planning — or the lack of it. All three of the winning newspapers in this year's APA Journalism Award Competition took a stand on planning topics — against sprawl, against pollution, and against property rights campaigns in the West.

This year's winners were the Hartford Courant, the Tallahassee Democrat, and High Country News.

Connecticut may be the wealthiest state in the nation, but according to the Hartford Courant, sprawl is a major threat to its residents. The paper decided to fight the problem in its editorial pages — keeping the issue before the public during the state's 2006 gubernatorial election.

The Hartford Courant won the 2007 journalism award for a large newspaper (circulation above 100,000). Its winning entry, a series of editorials and columns on sprawl, was published in 2005 and 2006. Tom Condon was the winning editor.

In granting the 2007 award, the judges noted the paper's "unusual and innovative approach" in devoting an entire Sunday editorial section to one topic: the roots and results of sprawl and some possible solutions.

"The Courant presented the information clearly but with a lot of passion and conviction — with a call to action, telling the readers that it's unacceptable to continue with the status quo," the judges said.

"The paper took on the role of opinion leader — and it was done very responsibly by senior editors," they added. "This is one of the best pieces we have seen about the issue of suburban investment and urban disinvestment. If I lived in Connecticut, I'd be angry about lost resources, extended commutes, and the fact that nothing is being done about them."

The fast-growing state of Florida has faced water problems for many years. "Saving Our Springs," a three-part series published by the Tallahassee Democrat last June, went into detail about the pollution of the once-pristine Wakulla Springs near Tallahassee. This is one of the largest freshwater springs in the nation.

The newspaper traced the problem to several sources: home septic tanks, farm waste, and irrigation with treated waste water, among them.

The Tallahassee Democrat was this year's winner among medium-sized newspapers (circulation 50,000 to 100,000). Its winning writers were Jennifer Portman and Bruce Ritchie.

Readers got "a wonderful education on the science of what happened to the springs — but also solutions," the judges said. Among the solutions that were suggested: setting up a regional wastewater utility, protecting sinkholes from runoff, and adopting nitrate standards.

"This was wonderfully written, very detailed, very readable, and easy to understand," the judges noted.

Further, the series resulted in action. Wakulla County has recently adopted strict septic tank regulations, and the city of Tallahassee has earmarked $160 million to improve its wastewater treatment system.

In nominating this particular series for an award, Charles Pattison, AICP, president and CEO of 1000 Friends of Florida, wrote that for his organization "this series demonstrated the positive effects of media coverage on a subject with major land-use implications for a treasured public resource."

Delving below the surface is what High Country News has done in uncovering the motives — and money — behind last year's eminent domain ballot measures. The paper, based in Paonia, Colorado, was the winner among small newspapers (circulation below 50,000).

Ray Ring, the paper's Northern Rockies editor, wrote the winning articles, called "Taking Liberties." The series was published last July.

Here is what the judges said: "In a very cogent way, with a variety of stories, the newspaper showed how a libertarian approach to property rights is affecting the entire West."

Ring's articles focused on a "stealth campaign" financed by libertarians whose aim was to change planning policy through state ballot measures. According to the paper, voters were largely unaware of the financing behind the measures or the consequences of accepting them.

The judges said the articles provided "exceptional political analysis" of an organized campaign aimed at "shrinking government to the point where you could drag it to the bathtub and drown it."

In nominating the articles for an APA award, the newspaper's news editor noted that "Taking Liberties" inspired other newspapers to publish similar stories, and that the articles eventually led to the formation of groups opposed to the various ballot measures.

Several newspapers were singled out even though they didn't win APA awards this year. The judges took special note of the Portland Oregonian (for Laura Oppenheimer's articles on the consequences of Measure 37); the Bakersfield Californian (for stories about hillside protection); and the Sacramento Bee (for coverage of flood hazards and a local sports arena).

The year 2007 marks the 47th year of the APA Journalism Award Competition, which honors North American newspapers for excellent coverage of city and regional planning topics.

Judges for this year's competition were  John Andersen,  Jr., Great Lakes Director of the Nature Conservancy; Dennis Marino, planning director of Evanston, Illinois; Donna Leff, professor of journalism at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University; Todd Meyer, vice president of the HOK Planning Group; and John McClelland, associate professor of journalism at Roosevelt University. All six judges are based in Chicago.

To learn more about the winning newspapers, see www.courant.com; www.tallahassee.com; and www.hcn.org.

More Winners

"Targeting Investments for Neighborhood Revitalization," by George Galster, Peter Tatian, and John Accordino, has been chosen as the best article published in the Journal of the American Planning Association in 2006. It appeared in the Autumn 2006 issue.

Explaining their choice, the judges noted that this article is the first evaluation of a city's effort to invest housing and neighborhood improvement resources in a targeted way rather than citywide. The complexity of the issue and the data challenges were enormous, and the authors' findings "should affect the direction of housing policy for years to come," the judges said.

David Sawicki, FAICP, the editor of JAPA, headed the committee that selected the article. Committee members included all of the journal's associate editors except George Galster, the ultimate winner.

Contact
Sylvia Lewis, APA Publications Director, 312-786-6370, slewis@planning.org