American Business Media: In Its 50th Year, a Journalism Competition is Tougher Than Ever.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 26, 2004

A record 1,283 entries vie for the 2004 Neal Awards;

this year's ceremony will pay tribute to all past recipients

and to one courageous editor

Washington Technology exposes 60 government officials who obtained phony degrees from diploma mills. Editorials in University Business tackle the inability of colleges to prepare students for survival in a complicated world. CSO teaches readers how to prevent competitive espionage and intellectual property theft. Workforce Management takes HR leaders to task for the executive compensation practices that have scandalized Wall Street.

These are among the 78 finalists for the 50th Annual Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Awards, which honor b-to-b editorial excellence. The finalists were chosen from a record 1,283 entries, making this year's Neal Awards the most competitive ever. Winners--and the recipient of a new award recognizing editorial courage and integrity--will be announced at a luncheon ceremony on Thursday, March 18, at The Waldorf=Astoria in New York.

For the last two years, stories related to 9/11 and terrorism seem to have dominated the work of Neal finalists. Now, business-to-business publications have returned to an emphasis on the craft of industry reporting. The Neal Board of Judges remarked that this year's finalists presented fresh angles and unexpected points of view--evidence that editors are working harder than ever to provide new information in their core topics.

Several of the finalists broke major news. One of the more dramatic examples: Aviation Week & Space Technology was the first to write about the Columbia shuttle's reentry photo showing damage to the left wing--a scoop later picked up by the general news media.

At the 2004 Neal Awards ceremony, a new award recognizing editorial courage and integrity will be introduced: the Timothy White Award, named after the longtime editor of Billboard magazine who passed away unexpectedly in June 2002. White was known to artists and music moguls alike as "the conscience of the music industry," and this new award will be given to an editor whose work exemplifies the passion, courage and integrity that White displayed in his career. There is no entry fee, and the deadline for entries is Monday, March 1. Visit www.americanbusinessmedia.com for more information.

Also being honored at the 2004 Neal Awards are Vernon Henry, Advanstar's corporate editorial director, who will receive the Crain Award for lifetime achievement; and Aric Press, editor in chief of The American Lawyer, recipient of the 2004 McAllister Editorial Fellowship.

The Neal Awards are open to members of American Business Media, the association for b-to-b information providers. American Business Media's member companies represent over 3,000 print and online titles and reach an audience of 90 million professionals.