Reporter Who Exposed War-Profiteering Wins Guild's Broun Award

Click here to read the Broun Award-winning investigation of war profiteering by life insurance companies.

A journalist whose investigation exposed wartime profiteering by more than 130 life insurance companies has won The Newspaper Guild-CWA's distinguished Heywood Broun Award.

David Evans of Bloomberg News will be honored with other groundbreaking journalists at the Guild's annual awards ceremony, being held on October 20 at the Maritime Institute Conference Center near Baltimore. The award includes a $5,000 check.

The panel of top journalists judging the 69th annual Broun award, named for the famed columnist who helped found the Guild, said "Profiteering from Fallen Soldiers" stood out in a field full of complex, high-quality entries.

"In the greatest tradition of Broun, Bloomberg News' entry champions the underdog and corrects an injustice," the judges wrote. "Evans goes behind the public scenes and uncovers the dirty little secret of profiteering off the death of soldiers, airmen, Marines and sailors. There can be no higher calling."

Two pairs of journalists are also being honored with Broun Awards of Substantial Distinction. Laura Sullivan and Steven Drummond of National Public Radio won for their three-part investigation of court bonding practices, "Bonding for Profit." Marshall Allen and Alex Richards of the Las Vegas Sun won for the meticulously detailed "Do No Harm," about the quality of the area's hospital care, a project that took two years of research. Both teams of journalists will receive $1,000 with their awards.

The ceremony also recognizes the work of student journalists, with the annual David S. Barr Awards, named for the Guild's late, long-serving attorney. Ben Breuner and Michael Weinstein of Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif., won for their five-piece feature, "Targeting Teens," documenting how Marin County police were profiling teenagers. The college winner is Meagan Gillmore of Wilfrid Laurier University in Brantford, Ontario, for "Colborne Street Revisted" about the demolition of 41 historic properties in the city's downtown core.

"At a time when journalism has endured its own economic difficulties along with the rest of the country, this year's Heywood Broun Award entries show that the news industry is more than capable of continuing to provide the depth and complexity of work that a free press must if our society is to endure," the judges said. "It is also exciting to see the watchdogs still on duty at a time when our business is much maligned, which bodes well for the future of journalism."