MEMBER NEWS

Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. The IRE Journal, Jan/Feb 2008

Gilbert Bailon, the president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, is the new editorial-page editor at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He was the publisher of Al Día, a Spanish-language newspaper in Texas. * Carole Bass, freelance writer, won an Alicia Patterson Foundation grant to research stories about toxic chemicals poisoning American workers.

* Cecil Bothwell, who was recently appointed news editor of the Asheville (N.C.) City Paper, has a new book, "The Prince of War: Billy Graham's Crusade for a Wholly Christian Empire" (Brave Ulysses Books). * Debbie Cenziper,formerly of The MiamiHerald and now with The Washington Post, won a 2007 Excellence in Urban Journalism Award for her series "House of Lies." The awards recognize reporting on social and racial inequalities leading to inner-city poverty. * Tim Darragh of The (Allentown, Pa.) Morning Call, whose reporting on Pennsylvania's puppy mills led to the state's putting inspection records online, accepted the G. Richard Dew prize from the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association on behalf of The Morning Call. Chris Schnaars, now at The (Hackensack, N J.) Record, did the analysis of the state's kennel inspection records. * John Drescher is the executive editor of The (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer. He was previously the paper's managing editor. * Deborah Gage has joined the San Francisco Chronicle as senior technology reporter. She previously worked as a senior writer for Baseline magazine. * Ronnie Greene, an investigative journalist with The Miami Herald, has been named urban affairs editor overseeing government reporting. His first book, "Night Fire: Big Oil, Poison Air, and One Woman's Fight to Save Her Town," will be published in May by HarperCollins/Amistad. * Matthew Kauffman of The Hartford (Conn.) Courant won the 2007 Master Reporter Award for daily publications from the New England Society of Newspaper Editors. * Sheila Farr and Susan Kelleher of The Seattle Times won a C.B. Blethen Memorial Award for their series "Chihuly Inc." from the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Association in the enterprise reporting category for newspapers with circulation more than 50,000. * Alan C.Miller, a member of the Los Angeles Times'Washington, D.C., investigative team, is taking a leave from the paper. With a Knight Foundation grant, Miller plans to establish a national program to bring active and retired journalists into schools to teach students about news literacy. * Deborah Potter has a new book,"Advancing the Story: Broadcast Journalism in a Multimedia World"(CQ Press), co-authored with Deb Wenger.* Mark Szakonyi is an economic development and small business reporter with the Jacksonville (Fla.) Business Journal. He was previously a business reporter at The (Newark,Ohio) Advocate. * Jeff Taylor is now the managing editor of news and features at the Detroit Free Press. He oversees investigative reporting as well as the metro, features, business, sports and community staffs. * John Trumbo of the Tri-City (Wash.) Herald won a C.B. Blethen Memorial Award for"Dollars for Deals"from the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Association in the investigative reporting category for newspapers with circulation less than 50,000.* Rod Watson and Jonathan Epstein of The Buffalo (N.Y.) News won a 2007 Excellence in Urban Journalism Award for their series "The High Cost of Being Poor."* Scott Zamost, investigative producer at Miami's WTVJ/NBC 6, joins CNN as an investigative producer. He will be based in Atlanta and work in the Special Investigations Unit.