Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize Winner Announced; Amherst Journalist Honored for Documentary on Cambodian Refugees in Mass.

Business Editors and Lifestyle Editors

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 8, 2002

Award Presentation At WBUR 90.9FM Public Radio Gala, Oct. 17

National Public Radio (NPR) station WBUR 90.9 FM and Boston University today announce that Karen Brown, a reporter at WFCR-FM, Amherst, has won the first annual Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize recognizing significant news work by a young public radio journalist.

Brown has been honored for "Trauma and Recovery," her half-hour documentary about Cambodian refugees who fled Pol Pot's killing fields to start new lives in Massachusetts. Her piece, which originally aired on public radio station WFCR, was one of 42 entries received from broadcast journalists 35 and under from around the country. The $5,000 prize will be presented by veteran newsman Daniel Schorr as part of WBUR's Public Radio Gala, Thursday, October 17, at the Four Seasons Hotel, Boston.

The Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize, sponsored by WBUR and Boston University, spotlights a new generation of public radio journalists and seeks to inspire them to stretch the boundaries of the medium. Schorr, currently a senior analyst for NPR, has a distinguished, award-winning career in broadcast journalism and has worked with such legends as Edward R. Murrow at CBS and Ted Turner at CNN. Daniel Schorr's integrity and professionalism have provided the vision for the journalism award that bears his name.

A panel of noted journalists participated in judging the entries. This year's judges were:

-- Deborah Amos, correspondent for ABC News and NPR,

-- Edward Fouhy, executive director of the Pew Centers on the

States and former vice president for CBS News,

-- Ellen Hume, media analyst and former director of the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University, and

-- Marvin Kalb, executive director of the Washington D.C. Office of the Joan Shorenstein Center and former chief diplomatic correspondent for CBS and NBC.

The judges chose Karen Brown's documentary from among five finalists including:

-- Kristin McHugh-Johnson, 30, of Muscatine, Iowa, who submitted "Chechnya's Refugees," a news story recorded in Chechnya documenting the hardships suffered by those people displaced by the Chechnya-Russia conflict.

-- Joe Gardner Wessely, 26, of Placitas, New Mexico, whose news feature, "Montoya Ranch," offered listeners an instructive look at alternative methods of cattle-raising in the West.

-- Jeff Horwich, 24, of St. Cloud, Minnesota, who sent in a series called "An Education in Diversity," focusing on charges of racism and anti-Semitism at St. Cloud State University.

-- Layton Croft, 32, of Pacific Grove, California, whose feature "Monarch Butterflies of Pacific Grove," discussed how environmental changes affecting the butterflies' migration may also have an impact on other life forms.

All five submissions can be heard on WBUR's website, www.wbur.org.

The WBUR Public Radio Gala will be held Thursday, October 17, 6:00 - 9:30 PM, at Boston's Four Seasons Hotel. The Gala celebrates the 35th anniversary of President Lyndon Johnson's signing of the Public Broadcasting Act and the creation of the public broadcasting system.

Luci Baines Johnson, President Johnson's daughter, who is serving as honorary chair of the event, will talk about her father's role in creating the public broadcasting system. Also on hand will be news legend Walter Cronkite, who in 60 years as a broadcast journalist covered every major news event across the globe. NPR's Scott Simon serves as the evening's master of ceremonies.

In addition to awarding the Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize, the evening's events include a cocktail reception, dinner and a live auction. Tickets to the Gala are available by calling 1.900.909.9287 or on the web at www.wbur.org.