Catching up on old news

From Editor & Publisher:

The Miami Herald has won first place in the newspaper category of the Harry Chapin Media Awards, for its series "Poverty Peddlers."

The series, written by reporters Scott Hiaasen and Jason Grotto, investigated the Miami-Dade Empowerment Trust, the largest poverty agency in Miami-Dade County. It revealed that the agency had squandered millions of dollars on pet projects and insider deals while failing to deliver promised jobs.

Herald Investigations Editor Michael Sallah was also recognized for his role in the series.

And down the stretch they come!

Odious Miami Herald columnist, Ana Menendez was a finalist for a National Journalism Award from the Scripps Howard news service. If Ana Menendez is considered as a paragon of journalism then my opinion of the profession just went down dramatically. At least she didn't win.

Easy come, easy go

The latest Herald Pulitzer Prize winner is also the latest Herald reporter to depart for greener pastures. Debbie Cenziper will trade her job at the local fishwrap for another at the Washington Post.

Again showing the Herald's inability (or desire) to report on itself, news of Cenziper's departure appeared first in Joan Fleischman's Talk of our Town column.

Hat tips to Anonymous Commenter and Bob Norman.

Cenziper wins Pulitzer

As expected, Herald Reporter Debbie Cenziper's work reporting corruption at Miami-Dade County's public housing agency brought the Herald a Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting.

Congratulations to Ms. Cenziper and to her editor Michael Sallah. South Florida deserves more of this type of investigative reporting.

Will we get it?

TMH said to be among finalists for Pulitzer

Editor & Publisher has posted a list of possible finalists for this year's Pulitzer Prizes. It's no surprise that TMH would be a finalist for Debbie Cenziper's series House of Lies.

Ana Menendez' name was conspicuously absent from the list of potential finalists for commentary despite her winning an ASNE award and a Headliner Award. The $1,500 prize for the Headliner award brings Ms. Menendez' winnings for the awards season up to $4,000 which Herald Watch is certain she will donate to the poor.

Pulitzer, the Oscars of Journalism

Joe Strupp from Editor and publisher reports that the Pulitzer Prize jurors will be meeting next week to vote on the winners for 2006 and gives a run-down of potential winning stories. The Herald's Debbie Cenziper is mentioned specifically by Strupp:

At The Miami Herald, reporter Debbie Cenziper has received early acclaim for her series, "House of Lies," about corruption in the Miami-Dade County Housing Agency. Cenziper won a Polk Award for the series, while also being named a finalist for the Shorenstein Award. Again, her entry spans several potential categories, from public service to local reporting to investigative.

Good luck to Ms. Cenziper.

I couldn't help but notice that Oscar Corral's work was not mentioned.

On a related note, Ana Menendez won an ASNE award for her columns "about the Miami community" in which she trashed Cuba Nostalgia, a Cuban-themed indoor art and food festival. Ms. Menendez will receive $2,5oo for her efforts. Herald Watch is sure that she will donate it to Miami's poor.

Herald Reporter wins Award

TMH reporter Debbie Cenziper won the George Polk Award for metropolitan reporting for her series, House of Lies, which revealed breakdowns in the county's affordable housing program that left the poor in unsafe and decrepit homes.

Congratulations to Ms. Cenziper. This is the kind of reporting our community deserves, well-investigated and well-written. Hopefully she will inspire her colleagues and editors to strive for more of the same.