WASHINGTON, D.C. November 17, 2003 — "Well Connected," a telecommunications project of the Center for Public Integrity, won first prize in Enterprise Reporting in the independent category at the Online News Awards ceremony in Evanston, Illinois, on November 15.

“We believe that ‘Well Connected’ broke new ground in research and reporting,” noted the Center’s Executive Director Charles Lewis, “and we are so pleased that the investigative team’s work is being recognized.”

The project was one of four Center finalists—more than any other news organization, Lewis added. The other three were: The Center for Public Integrity for General Excellence; The Water Barons: How a Few Powerful Companies Are Privatizing Your Water for Enterprise Reporting in the independent category; and Making a Killing: The Business of War, a series that investigated the economics of conflict in the post-Cold War era and the groups who profit from the business of war, for Feature Reporting in the independent category. Both The Water Barons and Making a Killing are projects of the Center’s International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

The Online Journalism Awards, which honor excellence in digital journalism, are sponsored by the Online News Association and the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication.

The Center for Public Integrity conducts investigative research to explore the interaction between private interests and government officials and its effect on public policy. The Center’s investigations focus on issues that pose potential conflicts of interest among power brokers and governments.

The Center’s findings are published as reports and studies on the Web or in book form and distributed to the widest possible audience. The Center’s Web site is www.publicintegrity.org.

The Center, a nonprofit, nonpartisan tax-exempt organization, was founded in 1989 by Charles Lewis, a former producer with the CBS television program, 60 Minutes.

“Well Connected,” an exhaustive report on the telecommunications industry and the government organization that oversees it, includes a searchable database of broadcast, cable, radio and telephone ownership for the whole United States. It was the first of four investigative reports on the telecommunications industry underway at the Center.

The investigative team for “Well Connected” is led by project manager John Dunbar, with reporter Bob Williams and researcher Morgan Jindrich. Editors were Bill Allison and Teo Furtado.