2008 Gerald Loeb Award Winners Announced by UCLA Anderson School of Management

Business Wire, July 1, 2008

Daniel Hertzberg Receives Lifetime Achievement Award; Lawrence Minard Editor Award Goes to Frank J. Comes

NEW YORK -- Journalists from across the nation gathered tonight at New York City's Cipriani 42nd Street for the 2008 Gerald Loeb Awards Banquet. The Loeb Awards are among the highest honors in journalism, recognizing the work of journalists whose contributions illuminate the world of business, finance and the economy for readers and viewers around the world.

Judy D. Olian, dean of UCLA Anderson School of Management and chairman of the G. and R. Loeb Foundation, welcomed Loeb Awards honorees and their guests. Tyler Mathisen, managing editor of business news and host of "High Net Worth" for CNBC, served as the master of ceremonies.

The Loeb Awards includes two special awards for career contributions, the Lifetime Achievement Award, which was given to Daniel Hertzberg, and the Lawrence Minard Editor Award, which went to Frank J. Comes. In addition, there are 13 competition categories in which winners were named at the banquet. Following is a list of the 2008 Loeb Awards recipients along with brief synopses of their award-winning works.

Large Newspapers Winners

Walt Bogdanich, Jake Hooker, David Barboza and Andrew W. Lehren of The New York Times for "Toxic Pipeline"

This investigative series included exhaustive reporting and colorful storytelling on an important topic - how dangerous and poisonous pharmaceutical ingredients from small factories in rural China have flowed into the global market. Reported on four continents, this comprehensive series presented a compelling analysis of the "toxic pipeline" that has had a devastating, sometimes deadly, cost to humans.

Medium Newspapers Winners

Binyamin Appelbaum, Lisa Hammersly Munn, Ted Mellnik, Peter St. Onge and Liz Chandler of The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer for "Sold A Nightmare"

In this year-long series, the writers unraveled the story of the subprime mortgage crisis through the prism of Beazer Homes USA, a company that specialized in selling and helping finance homes for first-time buyers. The reporters were able to vividly depict how the subprime mortgage debacle came to be, uncovering Beazer's bad lending practices and duplicitous incentives which led to rampant foreclosures nationwide.

Small Newspapers Winners

Tony Bartelme of The Post and Courier (Charleston, S.C.) for "The China Effect"

As a way to depict the impact that China's growth is having on local economies, Bartelme told the story of a Charleston, S.C. man's desperate journey to China to have stem cells injected into his back. Reporting from southern China, Bartelme used narratives to provide a clear visual of China's stunning economic and cultural transformation. This was an ambitious and praiseworthy effort by a small newspaper to bring the global economy home to its readers.

Magazines Winner

Allan Sloan of Fortune for "House of Junk"

Of the countless stories about the subprime crisis, this piece stood out among the rest in depth of reporting and quality of writing. By dissecting one subprime mortgage deal, Sloan said volumes in relatively few words about what happened and why. The story turned a spotlight on the underlying conflict on Wall Street, as firms sold questionable subprime debt to investors even as they were profiting by shorting similar investments.

Magazines Honorable Mention

Michael Lewis of The New York Times Magazine for "In Nature's Casino"

Lewis took an extremely complicated subject - catastrophe and insurance - and made it not only accessible but also entertaining. He focused on one hedge fund manager's revolutionary method of risk calculation to ensure that the costs of any large-scale disaster get absorbed by the world's financial markets, as opposed to the insurance industry alone. In turn, Lewis illuminates the human aspect of an incredibly complex topic. A measure of the story's impact is that Congress, as well as the governors of South Carolina, Florida, and the mayor New Orleans, invited the mentioned hedge fund manager to testify on the topic of catastrophic risk.

Commentary Winner

Joe Nocera of The New York Times for "Talking Business"

In this incisive series, Nocera raised eyebrows as he questioned how responsible some "socially responsible" investing really is. Nocera was tough on business executives and owners, examining compensation practices and showing that socially responsible investing can actually prove to be an arbitrary process. He up-ended conventional wisdom with skill and obvious relish, and truly stood out as he uncovered how economic issues intersect with human character.

Commentary Honorable Mention

Daniel Howes of The Detroit News for "Business Columnist"

In a clear, strong voice, Howes exhibited a deft ability to source at the highest levels of business and government, exposing the factors that contributed to Michigan's decline. His columns focused on parallel stories of Detroit's automotive restructuring and the economic challenges that dominate many facets of Michigan today. Howes was able to explain complex events in simple terms and in their historic context, cutting through the company spin to offer blunt assessments of what these events mean for Detroit.