Mirror Awards Embargo Busted, Nominees Released

It’s a bummer when a group bent on honoring the media gets screwed over by it: Today, despite clear instruction detailing an embargo until 10am tomorrow, MediaChannelDotOrg went live with Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications’ release announcing its second annual Mirror Awards nominees, “recognizing excellence in media industry reporting.”

Along with several other outlets, we received our embargoed release Friday and have been gamely waiting until tomorrow to tell you which media-on-media efforts got the nod. Considering that the word “embargoed” was in all caps atop not just the release itself, but the first line of the email to which it was attached, it’s hard to imagine it being missed by whomever loosed it onto the Internets today. If so, that’s a fantastically underobservant media industry colleague whom we hope never winds up on the business end of a Mirror Award.

The complete and now un-embargoed release, after the jump:

SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY

S.I. NEWHOUSE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE Contact: Wendy S. Loughlin
Tuesday, April 15, 2008 at 10 a.m. EST Phone: (315) 443-2785
wsloughl@syr.edu

Newhouse School announces finalists in second annual Mirror Awards

Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications today announced 22 finalists in five categories in the second annual Mirror Awards competition honoring excellence in media industry reporting. The competition drew more than 100 entries. The media’s top writers, readers and leaders will gather June 23 at 11:45 a.m. at the Rainbow Room, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York City, to fete the winners.

Finalists, chosen by a group of journalists and journalism educators, are:

Best Single Article

Rachel Smolkin, “Justice Delayed,” American Journalism Review

Ken Auletta, “Promises, Promises,” The New Yorker

Emily Nussbaum, “Say Everything,” New York Magazine

Evgenia Peretz, “Going After Gore,” Vanity Fair

Michael Wolff, “Murdoch’s Private Game,” Vanity Fair

Best Profile

Joe Strupp, “Getting Wired: New Image for AP,” Editor & Publisher

Aaron Barnhart, “Al Jazeera English: The News You Won’t See,” Kansas City Star

David Folkenflik, “Seizures Hurt Memory, Ex-’Times’ Reporter Says,” National Public Radio

Jeff Coplon, “How Race is Lived in America,” New York Magazine

Richard Siklos, “Tilting at a Digital Future,” The New York Times

Best Commentary

David Carr, The New York Times

Dan Kennedy, freelancer, for The Guardian

Joe Nocera, The New York Times

Rob Owen, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Clive Thompson, freelancer, for Wired

Best Investigative Piece

Lowell Bergman, “News War: Secrets, Sources & Spin and the Future of Networks,” “Frontline” (PBS)

Brian Ross and Vic Walter, “To Catch A Predator: A Sting Gone Bad,” “20/20″ (ABC News)

Sarah Ellison, Matthew Karnitschnig, Susan Pulliam, Dennis K. Berman, Susan Warren, Martin Peers, Steve Stecklow, Aaron O. Patrick and Andrew Higgins, “The Battle for Dow Jones: A Newspaper Covers Itself,” The Wall Street Journal (four pieces)

Dynasty’s Dilemma

Family Dynamics

Mogul’s Dream

Calling Shots

Overall Excellence

American Journalism Review

Broadcasting & Cable

The New York Times: Monday Media section

The Seattle Times: The Democracy Papers

In addition, journalist Tim Russert will receive the Fred Dressler Lifetime Achievement Award, and CNN/YouTube will receive the i-3 award for impact, innovation and influence.

The Mirror Awards, established by the Newhouse School in 2006, honor the reporters, editors and teams of writers who hold a mirror to their own industry for the public’s benefit. Honorees are recognized for news judgment and command of craft in reporting, analysis and commentary on developments in the media industry and its role in our economy, culture and democracy.

For more information, contact Jean Brooks at (315) 443-5711 or mirror@syr.edu; or see http://mirrorawards.syr.edu.

For information about sponsorship levels, table sales and individual tickets, contact Marianne Carey Hayes at (212) 245-6570 ext. 16 or mirrorawards@eventassociatesinc.com.

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