Conscience-in-Media Award
Encyclopedia
The Conscience-in-Media Award is presented by the American Society of Journalists and Authors
(ASJA) to journalist
s that the society deems worthy of recognition for their distinctive contributions. The award is not given out often, and is awarded to those journalists which the ASJA feels have demonstrated integrity to journalistic values, while enduring personal costs to themselves. Candidates are decided by an initial vote of the ASJA's First Amendment Committee, which must then be confirmed by a separate vote of the ASJA's Board of Directors
.
The award has been presented a total of eleven times since the first award was given out in 1975. Notable recipients have included Jonathan Kozol
, for work researching homelessness
while writing his book Rachel and Her Children, Richard Behar
and Paulette Cooper
, for separate pieces investigating
the Church of Scientology
, and Anna Rosmus
, for her investigation into the Nazi history of her hometown in Passau, Germany. In 2005, the committee voted to present the Award to Judith Miller
, but this vote was later overturned by a unanimous decision of the board not to honor Miller with the award.
The award is given by the ASJA, to recognize "distinctive contributions by any journalist in any medium". The first award was given to Jerald F. terHorst in 1975, and in total the award has been presented eleven times. The award criteria are stringent. The American Society of Journalists and Authors maintains that the writer honored must have knowingly taken risks in the course of researching their story, going beyond the normal call of duty. Specifically, the award is given: "for singular commitment to the highest principles of journalism at notable personal cost".
Jonathan Kozol
was honored with the 1988 Award, for work done on his book Rachel and Her Children: Homeless Families in America. In order to research the plight of homeless people
in New York City
, Kozol spent the majority of a winter season at the Martinique Hotel in Manhattan
, where he grew close with the residents of the government subsidized shelter. During his time spent learning about the experiences of the homeless, he most empathized with homeless mothers - who constantly fear that sickness
, poverty
or intervention from the state of New York
will result in the loss of their children. Kozol attempted to analyze the causes of homelessness, and to provide an estimate of what the future would be for the homeless.
1992 was the only time in ASJA history in which two writers were honored in the same year. The AJSA had already decided to honor investigative journalist
Richard Behar
, for his Time
magazine article about the Church of Scientology
: "The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power
". Paulette Cooper
, a longtime member of the ASJA, had also written about Scientology
in her book The Scandal of Scientology
, and was the subject of a "Fair Game
" tactic that the Church of Scientology Guardian's Office
called "Operation Freakout
". As the award was not in existence at the time Cooper wrote her book, the ASJA decided that recognizing Cooper at the same time as Behar emphasized the commitment and courage both writers imbued in the face of risk to themselves.
Anna Rosmus
received the 1994 award, in honor of work related to her research on the Nazi past of her hometown in Bavaria
. Rosmus researched anti-Semitism
, and opposed neo-Nazis and the extreme right in Germany. She also located and published artwork of Jews that had once lived in her hometown of Passau, Germany. As a result of her work, Rosmus endured threats against her life. In a 1996 Yom HaShoah
ceremony, Rosmus recounted threats she faced after conducting her research: "Once-friendly neighbors threatened me openly - on the telephone, in person, in letters ... They threatened to kill me and kidnap my children. Some even attacked me physically, a room where I was to speak in Munich was bombed just before I was to be there, and several times I was sued. Nobody ever claimed I had said anything false or made mistakes. They just claimed all this would damage their reputations." Rosmus was profiled on 60 Minutes
, and her story was the subject of the 1990
West German
drama film
, The Nasty Girl. Rosmus was presented with the Conscience-in-Media Award in a special ceremony at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
.
In 2005, the ASJA's First Amendment Committee narrowly voted to present Judith Miller
with the award, in recognition of her dedication to protecting sources. However, the full board of the ASJA later voted not to accept the decision of its committee, due to its opinion that her career as a whole and her actions in the Valerie Plame
CIA leak case
had cast doubt on her merits. ASJA president Jack El-Hai stated that the ASJA board's vote to reject the committee's recommendation had been unanimous. This decision sparked controversy, and Jack El-Hai received correspondence both praising the board for its decision, and accusing it of various political motives.
Additional source
American Society of Journalists and Authors
The American Society of Journalists and Authors was founded in 1948 as the Society of Magazine Writers, and is an organization of independent nonfiction writers in the United States...
(ASJA) to journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
s that the society deems worthy of recognition for their distinctive contributions. The award is not given out often, and is awarded to those journalists which the ASJA feels have demonstrated integrity to journalistic values, while enduring personal costs to themselves. Candidates are decided by an initial vote of the ASJA's First Amendment Committee, which must then be confirmed by a separate vote of the ASJA's Board of Directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
.
The award has been presented a total of eleven times since the first award was given out in 1975. Notable recipients have included Jonathan Kozol
Jonathan Kozol
Jonathan Kozol is a non-fiction writer, educator, and activist, best known for his books on public education in the United States. Kozol graduated from Noble and Greenough School in 1954, and Harvard University summa cum laude in 1958 with a degree in English Literature. He was awarded a Rhodes...
, for work researching homelessness
Homelessness
Homelessness describes the condition of people without a regular dwelling. People who are homeless are unable or unwilling to acquire and maintain regular, safe, and adequate housing, or lack "fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence." The legal definition of "homeless" varies from country...
while writing his book Rachel and Her Children, Richard Behar
Richard Behar
Richard Behar is an award-winning American investigative journalist who has written on the staffs of leading magazines including Forbes, Time and Fortune over a 22-year period from 1982-2004. His work has also appeared on CNN and PBS...
and Paulette Cooper
Paulette Cooper
Paulette Marcia Cooper is an American author who is best known for activism against the Church of Scientology and the harassment she suffered as a result. Cooper's books have sold close to a half a million copies.-Early life:...
, for separate pieces investigating
Investigative journalism
Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, often involving crime, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years researching and preparing a report. Investigative journalism...
the Church of Scientology
Church of Scientology
The Church of Scientology is an organization devoted to the practice and the promotion of the Scientology belief system. The Church of Scientology International is the Church of Scientology's parent organization, and is responsible for the overall ecclesiastical management, dissemination and...
, and Anna Rosmus
Anna Rosmus
Anna Rosmus, also known as Anja Rosmus-Wenninger, is a German author and researcher born in 1960 in Passau, Bavaria.- Early life in Germany :...
, for her investigation into the Nazi history of her hometown in Passau, Germany. In 2005, the committee voted to present the Award to Judith Miller
Judith Miller (journalist)
Judith Miller is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist, formerly of the New York Times Washington bureau. Her coverage of Iraq's alleged Weapons of Mass Destruction program both before and after the 2003 invasion generated much controversy...
, but this vote was later overturned by a unanimous decision of the board not to honor Miller with the award.
History
Jonathan Kozol
Jonathan Kozol
Jonathan Kozol is a non-fiction writer, educator, and activist, best known for his books on public education in the United States. Kozol graduated from Noble and Greenough School in 1954, and Harvard University summa cum laude in 1958 with a degree in English Literature. He was awarded a Rhodes...
was honored with the 1988 Award, for work done on his book Rachel and Her Children: Homeless Families in America. In order to research the plight of homeless people
Homelessness
Homelessness describes the condition of people without a regular dwelling. People who are homeless are unable or unwilling to acquire and maintain regular, safe, and adequate housing, or lack "fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence." The legal definition of "homeless" varies from country...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Kozol spent the majority of a winter season at the Martinique Hotel in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, where he grew close with the residents of the government subsidized shelter. During his time spent learning about the experiences of the homeless, he most empathized with homeless mothers - who constantly fear that sickness
Sickness
Sickness may refer to:* Illness* Disease* Nausea* Sickness behaviorIn popular culture:* The Sickness, an album by Disturbed* The Sickness , a book in the Animorphs series...
, poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
or intervention from the state of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
will result in the loss of their children. Kozol attempted to analyze the causes of homelessness, and to provide an estimate of what the future would be for the homeless.
Investigative journalism
Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, often involving crime, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years researching and preparing a report. Investigative journalism...
Richard Behar
Richard Behar
Richard Behar is an award-winning American investigative journalist who has written on the staffs of leading magazines including Forbes, Time and Fortune over a 22-year period from 1982-2004. His work has also appeared on CNN and PBS...
, for his Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine article about the Church of Scientology
Church of Scientology
The Church of Scientology is an organization devoted to the practice and the promotion of the Scientology belief system. The Church of Scientology International is the Church of Scientology's parent organization, and is responsible for the overall ecclesiastical management, dissemination and...
: "The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power
The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power
"The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power" is an article, written in 1991 by U.S. investigative journalist Richard Behar, which is highly critical of Scientology. It was first published by Time magazine on May 6, 1991, as an eight-page cover story, and was later published in Reader's Digest in October...
". Paulette Cooper
Paulette Cooper
Paulette Marcia Cooper is an American author who is best known for activism against the Church of Scientology and the harassment she suffered as a result. Cooper's books have sold close to a half a million copies.-Early life:...
, a longtime member of the ASJA, had also written about Scientology
Scientology
Scientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by science fiction and fantasy author L. Ron Hubbard , starting in 1952, as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics...
in her book The Scandal of Scientology
The Scandal of Scientology
The Scandal of Scientology is a critical exposé book about the Church of Scientology, written by Paulette Cooper and published by Tower Publications, in 1971....
, and was the subject of a "Fair Game
Fair Game (Scientology)
The term Fair Game is used to describe policies and practices carried out by the Church of Scientology towards people and groups it perceives as its enemies. Founder L. Ron Hubbard established the policy in the 1960s, in response to criticism both from within and outside his organization...
" tactic that the Church of Scientology Guardian's Office
Office of Special Affairs
The Office of Special Affairs or OSA is a department of the Church of Scientology. According to the Church, the OSA is responsible for directing legal affairs, public relations, pursuing investigations, publicizing the Church's "social betterment works," and "oversee[ing its] social reform programs"...
called "Operation Freakout
Operation Freakout
Operation Freakout, also known as Operation PC Freakout, was a Church of Scientology covert plan intended to have the US author and journalist Paulette Cooper imprisoned or committed to a mental institution...
". As the award was not in existence at the time Cooper wrote her book, the ASJA decided that recognizing Cooper at the same time as Behar emphasized the commitment and courage both writers imbued in the face of risk to themselves.
Anna Rosmus
Anna Rosmus
Anna Rosmus, also known as Anja Rosmus-Wenninger, is a German author and researcher born in 1960 in Passau, Bavaria.- Early life in Germany :...
received the 1994 award, in honor of work related to her research on the Nazi past of her hometown in Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
. Rosmus researched anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
, and opposed neo-Nazis and the extreme right in Germany. She also located and published artwork of Jews that had once lived in her hometown of Passau, Germany. As a result of her work, Rosmus endured threats against her life. In a 1996 Yom HaShoah
Yom HaShoah
Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve-laG'vurah , known colloquially in Israel and abroad as Yom HaShoah and in English as Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Holocaust Day, is observed as Israel's day of commemoration for the approximately six million Jews and five million others who perished in the...
ceremony, Rosmus recounted threats she faced after conducting her research: "Once-friendly neighbors threatened me openly - on the telephone, in person, in letters ... They threatened to kill me and kidnap my children. Some even attacked me physically, a room where I was to speak in Munich was bombed just before I was to be there, and several times I was sued. Nobody ever claimed I had said anything false or made mistakes. They just claimed all this would damage their reputations." Rosmus was profiled on 60 Minutes
60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
, and her story was the subject of the 1990
1990 in film
The year 1990 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* CGI technique is expanded with motion capture for CGI characters, used in Total Recall .* The first digitally-manipulated matte painting is used, in Die Hard 2....
West German
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
, The Nasty Girl. Rosmus was presented with the Conscience-in-Media Award in a special ceremony at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust history...
.
In 2005, the ASJA's First Amendment Committee narrowly voted to present Judith Miller
Judith Miller (journalist)
Judith Miller is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist, formerly of the New York Times Washington bureau. Her coverage of Iraq's alleged Weapons of Mass Destruction program both before and after the 2003 invasion generated much controversy...
with the award, in recognition of her dedication to protecting sources. However, the full board of the ASJA later voted not to accept the decision of its committee, due to its opinion that her career as a whole and her actions in the Valerie Plame
Valerie Plame
Valerie Elise Plame Wilson , known as Valerie Plame, Valerie E. Wilson, and Valerie Plame Wilson, is a former United States CIA Operations Officer and the author of a memoir detailing her career and the events leading up to her resignation from the CIA.-Early life :Valerie Elise Plame was born on...
CIA leak case
Plame affair
The Plame Affair involved the identification of Valerie Plame Wilson as a covert Central Intelligence Agency officer. Mrs. Wilson's relationship with the CIA was formerly classified information...
had cast doubt on her merits. ASJA president Jack El-Hai stated that the ASJA board's vote to reject the committee's recommendation had been unanimous. This decision sparked controversy, and Jack El-Hai received correspondence both praising the board for its decision, and accusing it of various political motives.
Award recipients
- 1994 - Anna RosmusAnna RosmusAnna Rosmus, also known as Anja Rosmus-Wenninger, is a German author and researcher born in 1960 in Passau, Bavaria.- Early life in Germany :...
, real-life heroine of the film The Nasty Girl. - 1992 - Richard BeharRichard BeharRichard Behar is an award-winning American investigative journalist who has written on the staffs of leading magazines including Forbes, Time and Fortune over a 22-year period from 1982-2004. His work has also appeared on CNN and PBS...
, associate editor, TIMETimeTime is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....
and author, "Scientology: The Cult of GreedThe Thriving Cult of Greed and Power"The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power" is an article, written in 1991 by U.S. investigative journalist Richard Behar, which is highly critical of Scientology. It was first published by Time magazine on May 6, 1991, as an eight-page cover story, and was later published in Reader's Digest in October...
" (TIME, May 6, 1991). - 1992 - Paulette CooperPaulette CooperPaulette Marcia Cooper is an American author who is best known for activism against the Church of Scientology and the harassment she suffered as a result. Cooper's books have sold close to a half a million copies.-Early life:...
, ASJA member and author, The Scandal of ScientologyThe Scandal of ScientologyThe Scandal of Scientology is a critical exposé book about the Church of Scientology, written by Paulette Cooper and published by Tower Publications, in 1971.... - 1988 - Jonathan KozolJonathan KozolJonathan Kozol is a non-fiction writer, educator, and activist, best known for his books on public education in the United States. Kozol graduated from Noble and Greenough School in 1954, and Harvard University summa cum laude in 1958 with a degree in English Literature. He was awarded a Rhodes...
, author, Rachel and Her Children. - 1981 - Jacobo TimermanJacobo TimermanJacobo Timerman was an Argentine publisher, journalist, and author who was persecuted and honored for confronting the atrocities of the Argentine military regime's Dirty War...
, former Argentine editor-publisher - 1981 - Erwin Knoll, editor, The ProgressiveThe ProgressiveThe Progressive is an American monthly magazine of politics, culture and progressivism with a pronounced liberal perspective on some issues. Known for its pacifism, it has strongly opposed military interventions, such as the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. The magazine also devotes much coverage...
- 1978 - Donald WoodsDonald WoodsDonald James Woods, CBE was a white South African journalist and anti-apartheid activist.As editor of the Daily Dispatch from 1965 to 1977, he befriended Steve Biko, leader of the anti-apartheid Black Consciousness Movement, and was banned by the government soon after Biko's death, which had been...
, South African expatriate journalist - 1977 - Investigative Reporters and EditorsInvestigative Reporters and EditorsInvestigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that focuses on the quality of investigative reporting. Formed in 1975, it presents the IRE Awards and holds conferences and training classes for journalists. Its headquarters is in Columbia, Missouri, at the University of...
- 1977 - Don BollesDon BollesDon Bolles was an American investigative reporter whose murder in a bombing is linked to the Mafia.-Biography:...
(posthumous award) - 1976 - I.F. Stone
- 1975 - Jerald F. terHorst
Additional source
External links
- Conscience-in-Media Award, American Society of Journalists and AuthorsAmerican Society of Journalists and AuthorsThe American Society of Journalists and Authors was founded in 1948 as the Society of Magazine Writers, and is an organization of independent nonfiction writers in the United States...