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.""Journalism Awards ", Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights. The awards are known as the "poor people's Pulitzers" in media circles."Our Work ", Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights.
Recipients Note: This list of winners is incomplete.
1969–1979 1969
The first awards were presented by Kennedy's widow, Ethel Kennedy.
Network TV: CBS for "Black History: Lost, Stolen or Strayed", written by Perry Wolf and narrated by Bill Cosby. Magazine: David Nevin, Life magazine for "These Murdered Old Old Mountains." Newspaper: Nick Kotz of The Des Moines Register and Tribune for coverage of rural poverty and hunger.
1970 The second annual awards were presented at the Federal City Club in Washington, D.C., with multiple awardees in each category.
National TV: ABC News for "Black Fiddler: Prejudice and the Negro," produced by Stephen Fleischman. NBC News for "Between Two Rivers," narrated by Tom Pettit, from the First Tuesday series. Honorable Mention: Group W for "The shame of Welfare," produced by Dick Hubert. Local TV: WRC-TV for "Perspective: New Set of Eyes," produced by Bill Leonard. KNXT-TV for "The Siesta is Over (Revisited)," produced by Ken Rosen. Honorable Mention: WCKT-TV for "Migrant Workers," news director Gene Strul. Radio: WJR for "I Am Not Alone," reported by Phil Jones. Honorable Mention: WAKY for "Soul Searching," produced by Bob Watson. Newspaper: Linda Rockey for a series on the problems of hunger in the Chicago Sun Times. Dallas Kinney and Kent Pollock of the Palm Beach Post-Times for "Migration to Misery," an eight-part series on the life and dreams of migrant farm workers.
Articles in Series: "They Live Unwanted, in the Shadows of Society", October 5, 1969 "A Perpetual Cycle Traps the Migrant", October 6, 1969 "Squeezing Out a Living", October 7, 1969 "For $50 a Month: A One-Room Shed, No Toilets", October 8, 1969 "Migrant Gets What's Left", October 9, 1969 "An Elderly Migrant Who Waits to Die", October 10, 1969 "Bubba Boone: A Migrant Out of the Stream", October 11, 1969 "The County's Effort Expansive But Not Enough", October 12, 1969
Magazines: Fred C. Shapiro for "The Whitmore Confessions" in The New Yorker, about the case of George Whitmore Jr.. Honorable Mention: Dr. Robert Coles and Harry Huge for a series of reports in The New Republic on the problems of the disadvantaged.
1971 The third annual awards were presented by Ethel Kennedy during a luncheon ceremony held at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., which was still under construction. Entertainer Bill Cosby was the master of ceremonies, and Tim Wickers of The New York Times gave the keynote speech. The winners were selected from over 275 entries. No awards were given in the Radio and Magazines categories.
TV: NBC News for "Migrant: An NBC White Paper" with correspondent Chet Huntley, produced by Martin Carr. Richard Hubert, Paul Galan, Rod MacLeish, Westinghouse Broadcasting Company for "When You Reach December." Newspapers: Ralph Looney of the Albuquerque Tribune for the nine-part series "The Plight of the Navajo." Sam Washington and Jerome Watson of the Chicago Sun-Times for a series on schools for the intellectually disabled. Special awards: Ruben Salazar of the Los Angeles Times for a collection of 17 columns that "communicated effectively and compassionately the culture and alienation of Chicanos." The award was accepted by Salazar's widow, Sally. 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."
1972 The fourth annual awards were presented by Rose Kennedy during a luncheon ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Ralph Nader gave the keynote speech. Eligibility was expanded to include high school entries.
TV: Paul Altmeyer and the Urban America Unit of Group W for "The Suburban Wall," a documentary on discrimination in suburban housing narrated by Rod MacLeish. Radio: Doug Fox of KTOK for "The Business of Being Black," a five-part series on the economic problems of African Americans in Oklahoma City. Newspapers: Patrick Zier and Joanna Wragg of The Ledger for the four-part series "Crisis in Public Housing" about public housing issues in Lakeland, Florida. John Nordenheimer of The New York Times for a story about an African American Medal of Honor recipient who was killed during a holdup at a grocery store in Detroit, Michigan. Article: "From Dakto to Detroit: Death of a Troubled Hero", May 26, 1971 Magazines: Edward Kosner, Peter Goldman, and Don Holt of Newsweek for "Justice on Trial," a series on the criminal justice system. Beekman Winthrop for a story on intestinal parasites in children that was published in New South. Honorable mention print: 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. Honorable mention college: Al Benson of The Spectrum (State University of New York at Buffalo) for "Health Care Crisis".
1973 The fifth annual awards were presented by Ethel Kennedy with the assistance of her brother-in-law, Senator Edward Kennedy. Harvard psychiatrist Robert Coles gave the keynote address. The awardees were chosen from 418 entries, including 61 high school and 37 college entries.
Newspapers: Jean Heller of the Associated Press for a series entitled "The Tuskegee Syphilis Study" exposing a federal experiment that left a number of infected African American men untreated. Citation: Agustin Gurza, editor of LaVoz del Pueblo in Hayward, California. Citation: Mike Masterson, editor of the Newport Daily Independent in Newport, Arkansas. 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. TV: Geraldo Rivera of WABC-TV for "Willowbrook: The Last Disgrace," a documentary about the effects of budget cuts on Willowbrook State School for intellectually disabled children in New York City. The documentary led Governor Nelson Rockefeller to restore funding to the school. Citation: Thomas Norton for "Migrants of Central Illinois," an episode of the CIA Reports documentary series produced by WCIA. The documentary focuses on migrant workers in the Hoopeston, Illinois, area.
1974 The sixth annual awards were presented by Ethel Kennedy. Frances Farenthold gave the keynote speech. The awardees were selected from 432 entries.
Citation – High School: Tarl Oliason, co-editor of The Chieftain, the newspaper of Pocatello High School in Pocatello, Idaho, for stories on racial equality and confrontation between black and white students at the school. 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. Magazine: John Guinther of Philadelphia Magazine for "The Only Good Indian." Newspaper: Dolores Katz and Jo Thomas of the Detroit Free Press for an 18-part series, "Psychosurgery on Trial". Citation: Gloria Delgado of the Express and News for coverage of the Liza Guerra kidnapping. Honorable mention: Mike Royko, Chicago Daily News, "Faceless Veteran". Honorable mention: Hope Spencer, Newsday, "The Victims". Radio: Honorable Mention: WCAU Radio for "Abortion: An Investigative Report." Honorable Mention: WJR for "Manhunt Scars Community." Citation: Rudolph Brewington of WWDC for "Diagnosis: Desperate - A report on Health Care for Minority Americans" Citation: William Diehl of ABC Radio for "Why Did Patti Have To Die?" Citation, print: Jane Daugherty of the St. Petersburg Times for a 15-part series on Pinellas County, Florida, nursing homes. TV: Robert C. Dotson of WKY-TV for "Through the Looking Glass Darkly," a documentary about the history of African-American civil rights in Oklahoma from before statehood to 1973. Honorable Mention: McGraw-Hill Broadcasting Company and KGTV-10 for "La Raza – The People." Citation: Carlos Aguilar of WOAI-TV for "Fiesta Patrias".
1975 The seventh annual awards were presented by Ethel Kennedy and Haynes Johnson. Harry Golden gave the keynote address. The awardees were selected from approximately 300 entries.
Magazine: Loretta Schwartz of Philadelphia Magazine for "Nothing to Eat". Newspaper: Executive editor Mike Masterson of the Hot Springs Sentinel-Record for continuing coverage of the problems of the disadvantaged. Print – Honorable Mention: Francie Barnard of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram for "Congressional Discrimination," a series exposing discrimination in congressional hiring.
Articles in Series: "Discrimination Found In Congressional Jobs Orders", August 18, 1974 "Justice Department Will Not Investigate Hiring", August 19, 1974 "Job-Order Forms Termed Authentic", August 20, 1974
Print – Citation: Nancy Greenberg of the Philadelphia Evening and Sunday Bulletin for "The Indomitable Sondra Diamond."
Melinda Foote of The Palm Beach Post for "The Bittersweet Harvest," a series about the problems of Jamaican laborers brought each year to Palm Beach County, Florida, to cut sugar cane in the Everglades.
Articles in Series: "The Bittersweet Harvest", November 24, 1974 "Selecting the Cane Cutters", November 25, 1974 "It's Filthy, Back-Breaking Work", November 26, 1974 "Time Off", November 27, 1974 "The Economics of a Bittersweet Harvest", November 28, 1974
Radio: Terence Gurley of WWVA Radio in Wheeling, West Virginia, for "Back to Bloody Harlan." Television: Martin Berman, Peter Lance, and Geraldo Rivera of WABC-TV for "The Willowbrook Case: The People vs. The State of New York." Television – Citation: Hill Mermont of WGTV in Athens, Georgia, for "The Bikinians." Luis R. Cano, Philip Cano, Roberto Gutierez, and Willie Navarro of the Association for the Advancement of Mexican Americans and KTRK-TV for "The Aztecas and Their Medicine: A Chicano Legacy."
1976 Radio: Bob Cain, Cathleen Gurley, WWVA Radio, Wheeling, West Virginia, "Care and Feeding of America". TV: Tom Pettit, NBC News, "Feeding the Poor". TV honorable mention: Dan Rather, John Sharnik, Peter Poor, CBS News, "CBS Reports: The I.Q. Myth". Print honorable mention: William Heffernan, Stewart Ain, New York Daily News, series on child care.
1977 Grand prize and print: Acel Moore and Wendell Rawls, Jr., Grand Prize, for their coverage of the Fairview (PA) Hospital for the Criminally Insane in The Philadelphia Inquirer 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".