American journalism award by the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights
The Robert F. Kennedy Awards for Excellence in Journalism is a journalism award named after Robert F. Kennedy and awarded by the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights. The annual awards are issued in several categories and were established in December 1968 by a group of reporters who covered Kennedy's campaigns. Winners are judged by more than 50 journalists each year, led by a committee of six independent journalists. The awards honor reporting "on issues that reflect Robert F. Kennedy's concerns, including human rights, social justice and the power of individual action in the United States and around the world. Entries include insights into the causes, conditions and remedies of injustice and critical analysis of relevant public policies, programs, attitudes and private endeavors."[1] The awards are known as the "poor people's Pulitzers" in media circles.[2]
Ruben Salazar of the Los Angeles Times for a collection of 17 columns that "communicated effectively and compassionately the culture and alienation of Chicanos."[17] The award was accepted by Salazar's widow, Sally.[16]
The New Thing, an arts and architecture workshop in Washington, D.C., for the film "This Is the Home of Mrs. Levant Graham, the New Thing."[17]
1972
The fourth annual awards were presented by Rose Kennedy during a luncheon ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.[21][22]Ralph Nader gave the keynote speech.[23] Eligibility was expanded to include high school entries.[24]
Robert Raisch and Neil Scott of United World Press Cooperative for the entire October 21, 1971, issue of Rama Pipien: A People's Media, Ingest Digest.[21][31]
The fifth annual awards were presented by Ethel Kennedy with the assistance of her brother-in-law, Senator Edward Kennedy.[32][33] Harvard psychiatrist Robert Coles gave the keynote address.[34] The awardees were chosen from 418 entries, including 61 high school and 37 college entries.[35]
Citation: Jack Brimeyer, Max Winter, Telegraph-Herald, Dubuque, Iowa, "The Rosebud Reservation".
Radio:
Citation: Producer Mucio Carlon and the University of Arizona's public radio station KUAT for "What it's Like," a weekly program for ethnic minorities.[40]
Citation: Thomas Norton for "Migrants of Central Illinois," an episode of the CIA Reports documentary series produced by WCIA.[42] The documentary focuses on migrant workers in the Hoopeston, Illinois, area.[42]
1974
The sixth annual awards were presented by Ethel Kennedy.[43]Frances Farenthold gave the keynote speech.[44] The awardees were selected from 432 entries.[45]
Joseph Hearst III, co-editor of The Chieftain, for stories and editorials on a conflict between Idaho State University's Native American Student Association and Pocatello High School over a Native American symbol at the high school.[35]
The seventh annual awards were presented by Ethel Kennedy and Haynes Johnson.[50]Harry Golden gave the keynote address.[51] The awardees were selected from approximately 300 entries.[52]
TV citation: Thom Dickerson, Lee Meredith, KTRK, Houston, Texas, "Requiem for a Dying Neighborhood", a documentary which described the decay in an area located in downtown Houston.
TV citation: Ed Fillmer, KYTV, Springfield, Missouri, "The Retirement Trap".
Print citation: Editorial staff, The Lake Placid News, New York, "Rebirth of Mohawk Nation or Illegal Land Grab".
Honorable mention, college student: Christopher DeSalvo, Southern Illinois University, series on Laotian refugees.
Honorable mention, college student: Bob Minnocci, West Virginia University, series on mental health.
Honorable mention, print: Loretta Schwartz, Boston Magazine, Chicago Magazine, Philadelphia Magazine, various articles.
Honorable mention, print: Edward T. Pound, Pam Zekman, Chicago Sun-Times, "Chicago's Money Merchants".
Honorable mention, TV: William H. Willson, KCET, Los Angeles, "Handle with Care and Dignity".
Honorable mention, TV: Bob Dotson, WKYC-TV, Cleveland, "The Urban Reservation".
Honorable mention, TV: Sy Perlman, NBC, "Weekend" series on Sawyer Brothers.
1978
Grand prize and TV: Bill Moyers, Tom Spain, Howard Stringer, Dan Lerner, CBS, "CBS Reports: The Fire Next Door".
Print: Jonathan Neumann, William K. Marimow, The Philadelphia Inquirer, "Police Violence".
TV citation: Jack Hill, KAIT-TV, Jonesboro, Arkansas, "Is There Any Hope for Hope Street".
College student citation: New Expression newspaper, Youth Communication, Chicago.
Honorable mention, print: Louie Gonzalez, Oakland Tribune, "I Was an Illegal".
Honorable mention, print: Huge Aynesworth, John Bloom, Robert Montemayor, Howard Swindle, Paul West, Bryan Woolley, Dallas Times Herald, series on Castroville.
Honorable mention, high school student: Jane Lincoln, Urban Journalism Workshop, 1310 Magazine, "A Walk Through Mt. Pleasant".
Honorable mention, TV: Nancy Thurber, Robert Thurber, WPBT-TV, Miami, "God Gives You Years".
1979
Grand prize and print prize: Fredric N. Tulsky, Nancy Weaver, Don Hoffman, The Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, Mississippi, "North Mississippi Justice".
Radio: Steven L. McVicker, Jeanne Jones Riedmueller, KPFT, Houston, "The Question of Accountability: A Look at the Houston Police Department".
Honorable mention, TV: Brian Ross, Janet Pearce, Joseph Angotti, NBC Nightly News, segment on migrant farm workers.
1980–1989
1980
Grand prize and print: Chester Goolrick, Paul Lieberman, Lee May, Charlene P. Smith-Williams, Steve Johnson, The Atlanta Constitution, "The Underpaid and the Underprotected".
Radio: Greg Barron, David Carlton Felland, KSJN, Minnesota Public Radio, "The Way to 8-A".
TV: Howard Husock, Robert Ferrante, WGBH, "Community Disorder: Racial Violence in Boston".
Citation, college student: Ron Hall, Pepperdine University, "A World of His Own".
Citation, college student: Annals Kraft, Northern Virginia Community College, "Granny Hickory Stick".
Honorable mention, photojournalism: Andrea Brunais, The Tampa Times, Florida, "Racism in Hillsborough County Schools".
Honorable mention, photojournalism: David Olinger, Concord Monitor, New Hampshire, "Adrift".
Honorable mention, radio: Mark Poindexter, KCUR-FM, Kansas City, Missouri, "Missouri's Migrants".
Honorable mention, TV: Dan Rather, Leslie Edwards, Don Hewitt, CBS News "60 Minutes", "Equal Justice".
Honorable mention, TV: Philip Scheffler, CBS News "60 Minutes", "In the Mainstream".
Honorable mention, TV: Stephen Fleischman, Richard Richter, Pamela Hill, ABC News "Close Up", "Nobody's Children".
1981
Radio: Martin Teichner, Peter Wells, Clarence Fanto, CBS Radio Network (Newsmark), "Exodus: The Freedom Flotilla".
TV: Joe Bergantino, Clarence Jones, Melissa Malkovitch, Lance Heflin, WPLG-TV, Miami, "The Billion Dollar Ghetto".
Photojournalism: Len Lahman, Sharon Myers, Times-Advocate, Escondido, California, "Faces Beyond the Fence".
Honorable mention, radio: John Merrow, Barbara Reinhardt, National Public Radio (Options in Education), "Race Against Time: School Desegregation".
Honorable mention, TV: Susan Kinney, Bill Ruth, KRMA-TV, Denver, "Haunted House".
Honorable mention, TV: Ken Swartz, WHAS-TV, Louisville, Kentucky, "When Can We Come Home".
Citation, radio: Al Allen, WJLB-FM, Detroit, "Crime by Color: Black on Black".
Citation, TVAlvin H. Perlmutter, Imre Horvath, Marc Brugnoni, Patrick Fahey, Martin Smith, Kalima Soham, WQED, Pittsburgh PBS, "Adoption in America".
1982
Photojournalism: Jerry Lower, Southern Illinoisan, Carbondale, "A Touch of Nature".
Photojournalism: Jay B. Mather, Louisville Courier-Journal, "She Ain't Stopping Now".
College student: Jill Schoenstein, The Daily Pennsylvanian, University of Pennsylvania, "A Rough Education".
Radio: Bill Buzenberg, National Public Radio, "All Things Considered", "Immigration and Refugees".
TV: Mark Potter, Lance Heflin, WPLG-TV, Miami, "Human Cargo".
Honorable mention, high school student: Leah Bryant, Sally Harris, West High School, Bakersfield, California, "Do You Know Where Your Grandparents Are?"
Honorable mention, TV: Gil Noble, Susan Robeson, Doug Har, WABC-TV, New York, "Essay on Drugs".
Honorable mention, photojournalism: Patt Blue, Life magazine, "Multiple Sclerosis: A Lingering Nightmare".
1983
Radio: Bill Leslie, Mike Edwards, Donna Jones, Pamela Hart, Nancy Lyons, Steve Shumake, WRAL, Raleigh, North Carolina, "Five Faces of Poverty".
TV: Jonathon Dann, Greg Lyon, Ken Swartz, KRON-TV, San Francisco, "The War Within".
Cartoons: Don Wright, Miami News.
College student: Renee Jacobs, Pennsylvania State University, "Cynthia's Case".
Citation, cartoon: Sam C. Rawls, The Atlanta Constitution
Citation, TV: Susan Lavery, Bill Lord, KTUV, Salt Lake City, Utah, "Criminal Illness".
Citation, photojournalism: Karen Kasmauski, Virginian-Pilot/Ledger-Star, Virginia, "Lanette: A World of Her Own".
Citation, photojournalism: Patt Blue, Life magazine, "Getting off Welfare."
Honorable mention, print: John Hanchette, Carlton Sherwood, Brian Gallagher, Gannett News Service, "Oklahoma Shame".
Honorable mention, TV: Martin Freeth, Dick Boydell, Sheila Hayman, WGBH, Boston, "Finding a Voice".
Honorable mention, TV: Diane Baker, Rick Ridgeway, Home Box Office, "To Climb a Mountain".
1984
Grand prize and TV: Peter Karl, Doug Longhini, Joe Paszcky, Bonnie van Gilder, WMAQ, Chicago, "Beating Justice: A Special Report".
Photojournalism: April Saul, The Philadelphia Inquirer, "The Gift of Family".
Print: George Getschow, The Wall Street Journal, "Dirty Work".
Radio: Patrick Cassidy, WMAQ Radio, Chicago, "School Says You're Retarded".
Citation, print: Rob Wilkins, Sandusky Register, Ohio, "Hunger and Hope".
Citation, print: Steve Konicki, Luisa Yanez, The Miami News, "The Cuban Quintas".
Citation, photojournalism: Bruce Chambers, Glenn S. Capers, Mari Shaefer, P.K. Weis, Tucson Citizen, "Land in Torment".
Citation, photojournalism: Carol Guzy, The Miami Herald, "Little Haiti".
Citation, TV: Carol M. Rosenbaum, Virgilio Argimedes, Miriam Thomas, WTVD-TV, Durham, North Carolina, "Poverty Has a Woman's Face".
Citation, TV: Lee Luse, KCTA-TV, St. Paul, Minnesota, "The Legacy of Baby Doe".
Honorable mention, cartoon: Bill Day, The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, "Government Assistance".
Honorable mention, radio: Art Silverman, Verta Mae Grosvernor, National Public Radio, "Daufuskie".
Honorable mention, TV: Don Hewitt, Suzanne St. Pierre, Morley Safer, CBS News "60 Minutes", "Lenell Geter's In Jail".
Honorable mention, photojournalism: Carol Guzy, Miami Herald, "Wishbook".
Honorable mention, photojournalism: Mary Ellen Mark, Life magazine, "Streets of the Lost: Runaway Kids".
Honorable mention, print: Neil Henry, The Washington Post, "The Black Dispatch."
Honorable mention, college student: Hal Wells, Columbia Missourian, University of Missouri, "Leading an Active LIFE".
Honorable mention, college student: Phil Kuntzy, University of Florida, "The Discriminating Paddle".
Honorable mention, high school student: Monique Craig, Interhigh Connection, Washington, D.C., "Washington's Hungry: A Capital Disgrace".
1985
Grand prize and TV: David Fanning, Mark Obenhaus, PBS "Frontline", "Living Below the Line".
Print: Staff of The Charlotte Observer, series on North Carolina's mental health system.
College student: Kevin Davis, The Daily Illini, University of Illinois, "Prison Aftermath".
Photojournalism: Cheryl McCall, Mary Ellen Mark, Life magazine, "Camp Good Times".
Photojournalism: Lynn Johnson, Life magazine, "Kenny's World".
TV: Christopher Jeans, David Fanning, Charlie Cobb, PBS "Frontline", "Bread, Butter and Politics".
Citation, print: Jim Auchmutey, Mike Christiensen, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Poverty 1984".
Citation, print: Melvin Claxton, The Virgin Islands Daily News, "Public Housing / Public Shame".
Citation, college student: Georgea Kovanis, University of Michigan, "Overcoming Barriers at the U".
Citation, high school student: Alexei A. Waters, Leavenworth Senior High School, "Tony Roe Overcomes Blindness".
Citation, high school student: A. Claire Palvagasi, Lakewood High School, "Trying to Share America's Wealth".
Citation, radio: Diana Quinn, David Rush, Velma Cato, NBC Radio Network "The Source", Home Sweet Homeless / The Invisible People".
Honorable mention, print: Marc Kaufman, The Philadelphia Inquirer, "The Hmong: At the Mercy of America".
Honorable mention, college student: Janet Rae, Michigan Daily Weekend, University of Michigan, "Vagrants or Victims".
Honorable mention, photojournalism: Mary Ellen Mark, Life magazine, "The Cruelest Crime".
Honorable mention, radio: Anne Marshall, Mike Edgerly, WHAS Radio, Louisville, Kentucky, "Go Tell Sargent Shriver: The Life and Death of the War on Poverty in Eastern Kentucky".
Grand prize and print: Staff of The Chicago Tribune, "The American Millstone".
Photojournalism: Tom Gralish, The Philadelphia Inquirer, "How They Survive".
Radio: Scott Simon, Neva Grant, Ina Jaffe, National Public Radio, "A State of Emergency".
TV: Special projects staff, WSMV-TV, Nashville, "Reflections in Black and White".
Citation, cartoon: Mike Peters, Dayton Daily News
Citation, print: Douglas Pardue, Roanoke Times and World News, "Forgotten Houses, Forgotten People".
Citation, TV: Dan Medina, KHJ-TV, Los Angeles, "Our Children: The Next Generation".
Citation, photojournalism: John Keating, Dallas Times Herald, "Thalidomide Victim".
Honorable mention, cartoon: H. Clay Bennett, St. Petersburg Times.
Honorable mention, photojournalism: Stephen Shames, APF Reporter / The Philadelphia Inquirer, "Child Poverty in America".
Honorable mention, photojournalism: Sarah Leen, The Philadelphia Inquirer, "Losing Max: Living With Alzheimer's".
Honorable mention, radio: Frank Raphael, Peter Laufer, Lynn Peterson, Rusty Lutz, NBC Radio Network, "A Loss for Words".
Honorable mention, TV: Jeanne Bowers, Bruce Johnson, Sandra Butler, Tim DeLuca, LaGeris Bell, Mike Trammell, WDVM-TV, Washington, "Out of Sight, Out of Mind".
Honorable mention, print: Nina Bernstein, The Milwaukee Journal, "Justice Denied".
1987
Grand prize and print: Steve McGonigle, Ed Timms, The Dallas Morning News, "Discrimination in Juries".
Photojournalism: David Leeson, Dallas Morning News, "Hungry and Homeless".
College student: Joyce Mendel, University of New Mexico, "The Land Is So Sacred to Us".
High school student: Salome Junco, Seward Park High School, New York, "Illegal Aliens: I Am Very Frightened Every Day".
Radio: Craig Cheathem, WLAP-AM, Lexington, Kentucky, "Passing on the Secret of Sexual Abuse".
TV: David Fanning, Mark Obenhaus, Edward Gray, WGBH-TV, Boston, "Growing Up Poor".
Citation, photojournalism, April Saul, The Philadelphia Inquirer, "Survived by a Daughter".
Citation, TV: Marilyn Deutsch, Gary Schiedel, KOAP-TV, Portland, Oregon, "The Tiniest Junkies".
Honorable mention, college, Rick Wartzman, Northwestern University / The Boston Globe, "When Mentally Ill Become Violent, Few Have Easy Solutions".
Honorable mention, high school, Nellie Park, Truman High School, Independence, Missouri, "Drumm Farm Gives a Second Chance".
Honorable mention, print: Jenni Bergal, Kiki Bochi, Fred Schulte, News/Sun-Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, "Suffer the Children".
Honorable mention, cartoon: Bill Day, Detroit Free Press, "The Color Black 'n' Blue".
Honorable mention, radio: Steve Shomaker, KMOX Radio, St. Louis, Missouri, "A Bankrupt Heritage".
Honorable mention, TV: Lori VanKirk, Brenda Buratti, Boyd Levet, KGW-TV, Portland, Oregon, "In Search of Home".
1988
Grand prize and print: Alex Kotlowitz, The Wall Street Journal, "Urban Trauma".
Citation, TV: Al Briganti, Andrew Heyward, staff, CBS "48 Hours", "No Place Like Home".
Honorable mention, cartoon: Mike Peters, The Dayton Daily News.
1991
Grand prize and print: Jane Daugherty, Jeanne May, Bernie Shellum, The Detroit Free Press, "Workers and Risk".
International: Peter Jennings, Leslie Cockburn, ABC News, "Peter Jennings Reports from the Killing Fields".
Citation, international: Janice Tomlin, Tom Jarriel, Victor Neufeld, ABC News "20/20", "Nobody's Children: The Shame of a Nation".
Citation, print: Lori Hall, Diane Conners, Bill Echlin, Anne Gertiser Stanton, Tom Care, Will Scott, Michelle Worobec, The Traverse City Record-Eagle, Michigan, "Faces of Poverty".
Honorable mention, print: Eileen McNamara, Dolores King, Michale McDonald, The Boston Globe, "Birth in the Death Zones".
Honorable mention, print: Edward Pratt, The Advocate, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, "Can We Save Our Black Children".
Honorable mention, photojournalism: Jon Marc Taylor, The Prison Mirror, "Pell Grants for Prisoners".
Honorable mention, photojournalism: Al Diaz and Carl Juste, The Miami Herald for "Wish Book",
Honorable mention, cartoon: Don Wright, The Palm Beach Post, "Perot for President".
Honorable mention, college student: Laura Paynter, Rome News-Tribune, Georgia, "Welfare Is My Mama".
1994
Grand prize and print: Staff, The Chicago Tribune, "Killing Our Children".
TV: Alan Raymond, Susan Raymond, Home Box Office, "I Am a Promise".
International print: Molly Moore, John Anderson, Julia Preston, Lena Sun, Caryle Murphy, The Washington Post, "Third World, Second Class".
International radio: Michael Skoler, National Public Radio, "A Prayer for Burundi".
International TV: Ron Allen, Diego Grinaldi, Jane Hartney, Steve Schnee, ABC News, "World News Tonight: Sudan Famine".
Radio: Alyne Ellis, Donna Limerick, Johanna Cooper, National Public Radio "Horizons", "Taking Care of Undocumented Kids".
International photojournalism: Honorable Mention, The Miami Herald for "Immigration Hope and Despair"
Student: Nils Rosdahl, Christine Labang, Kathy Hostetter, Lori Vivian, Justin Smith, Ryan Bronson, Patricia Snyder, The Sentinel, North Idaho College, "Learning Challenges".
Honorable mention, international print: M.C. Burns, Herald-Journal, Syracuse, New York, "Somalia's Sorrow".
Honorable mention, international radio: Daniel Zwerdling, National Public Radio, "AIDS in Zambia".
Honorable mention, photojournalism: Robin Donina, St. Petersburg Times, "Portraits of a Plague".
1995
Print: Leon Dash, The Washington Post, "Rosa Lee's Story".
Photography: Brian Peterson, Star Tribune, "Testing the Human Spirit".
International print: Barbara Demick, The Philadelphia Inquirer, "Logavina Street".
International radio: Tom Gjelten, Michael Sullivan, National Public Radio, "Sarajevo: Another Winter of War".
International TV: Jim Wooten, ABC News, "Jim Wooten Report from Rwanda".
International: David Leeson, The Dallas Morning News, "Angola".
Radio: Maria Hinojosa, National Public Radio, "Jail Seen as a Rite of Passage".
Student: Kevin Shockley, Kenneth Eich, KBIA-FM, University of Missouri-Columbia, "Helping Hands".
TV: Meredith Viera, Michele Riorden-Read, ABC News "Turning Point", "Sean's Story: A Lesson in Life".
Honorable mention, cartoon: Mike Luckovich, The Atlanta Constitution.
Honorable mention, international radio, Betty Rogers, Alyne Ellis, Donna Limerick, National Public Radio, "Horizons: Behind the Smile, Child Prostitution in Thailand".
Honorable mention, international television: Demetria Kalodimos, Pat Slattery, WSMV-TV, Nashville, "Hope for 100,000".
Honorable mention, photography: Carol Guzy, The Washington Post, "Haiti: Out of the Darkness, a Whisper of Hope".
Honorable mention, international print: David Lamb, Bob Drogin, John Balzar, John-Thor Dahlburg, The Los Angeles Times, "Genocide and Horror in Rwanda".
Honorable mention, radio: Mary Jeffries, WHAS, Louisville, Kentucky, "Her Brother's Keeper: A Portrait of Sister Kathleen".
Honorable mention, TV: DeWitt Sage, David Fanning, WGBH "Frontline", Boston, 'A Place for Madness".
"I Wasn't Comfortable: Being a Student of Color in Garfield High's Advanced Classes"
KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio
High School Print
Sarah Zimmerman
"One Incredible Goal"
Francis Howell North High School, St. Charles, Missouri
College Journalism
Mark Boyle, Quanny Carr, Michael Errigo, Abby Mergenmeier, Jenna Milliner-Waddell, John Powers, Talia Richman, Jacob Taylor, Naema Ahmed, Ana Hurler, Helen Lyons, and Daniel Trielli
"Home Sick"
Capital News Service and Baltimore Urban Affairs Reporting Class
Ramita Navai, Paddy Wells, Raney Aronson, Dan Edge, Andrew Metz, Eamonn Matthews, Monica Garnsey, Mais Al-Bayaa, Natalie Triebwasser, John Moratiel, Ella Newton, and Steve Audette
ProPublica, in collaboration with New York magazine, Newsday, This American Life and The New York Times Magazine
Cartoon
Mark Fiore
"Mark Fiore editorial cartoons"
KQED News and online news websites
TV - Domestic
Rebecca Cammisa, James B. Freydberg, Larissa Bills, Unseen Hand, Bill Benenson, Laurie Benenson, Rose Villaseñor, Adilia Aguilar, Mary Recine, Olivia Negrón, Sheila Nevins, Sara Bernstein, Madeleine Gavin, Claudia Raschke, and Robert Miller
A.C. Thompson, Ginger Thompson, Melissa del Bosque, Jeff Ernsthausen, Robert Moore, Susan Schmidt, Maryam Jameel, Lucas Waldron, Katie Campbell and Dara Lind
"Inside the Border Patrol"
ProPublica
Cartoon
JD Crowe
"JD Crowe 2019 Work"
Alabama Media Group
International Television and John Seigenthaler Courage in Journalism Award
Staffs of FRONTLINE, Channel 4 and ITN Productions
^April 18, 1996 Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 50, Retrieved March 4, 2021, Quote=Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I rise to honor Steve Jessmore of Saginaw, MI, who has been awarded the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for outstanding coverage of the problems of the disadvantaged. Mr. Jessmore won the award in the photojournalism category for his photo essay, ``Blind Faith.