The Center for Public Integrity

Front & Center News Front & Center News

Center for Public Integrity Wins Polk Award

WASHINGTON, D.C. February 17, 2004 — The Center for Public Integrity has been awarded the first George Polk Award for Internet Reporting, Long Island University announced today.

The Center won the award for its report, Windfalls of War, a six-month investigation of American postwar contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan. In its exhaustive report the Center found that more than 70 American companies and individuals have won up to $8 billion in contracts for work in those two countries over the last two years. Those companies donated more money to the presidential campaign of George W. Bush—a little over $500,000—than to any other politician over the last dozen years. The Center also found that nearly every one of the 10 largest contracts awarded for Iraq and Afghanistan went to companies employing former high-ranking government officials or individuals with close ties to those agencies or Congress.

Charles Lewis, executive director of the Center, commented: “The Center for Public Integrity is thrilled to receive this high honor. This massive report, Windfalls of War, including 71 contractor profiles, represented half a year of grit and perseverance and determination by 20 researchers, writers and editors here, not to mention the fruits of 73 Freedom of Information Act requests. Project manager Maud Beelman and the entire, spectacular team here refused to be put off, refused to take ‘no’ for an answer, from any bureaucrat or company official. We are still in federal court suing the State Department and the Army Corps of Engineers!”

According to the Polk Award press release, the Center “reports led to print and broadcast coverage here and abroad that put the Pentagon on the defensive and spurred new congressional oversight of military spending.”

The Polk Awards in 14 separate categories were announced today by Long Island University. The Award ceremony will be held in New York City on April 2. The George Polk Awards, founded by Long Island University in 1949, memorialize the CBS correspondent slain covering a civil war in Greece and rank among America’s most coveted journalism honors.

The Center for Public Integrity has been honored by the journalistic community 22 times since 1996. The Center conducts investigative research and reporting on issues of public policy in this country and throughout the world.

###

The Center for Public Integrity is a nonprofit, nonpartisan independent Washington, D.C.-based organization that does investigative reporting and research on significant public issues. Since 1990, the Center has released more than 400 investigative reports and 17 books. It has received the prestigious George Polk Award and more than 22 other national journalism awards and 16 finalist nominations from national organizations, including PEN USA and Investigative Reporters and Editors. In April 2006, the Society of Professional Journalists recognized the Center with a national award for excellence in online public service journalism for the fifth consecutive year. In October 2006, the Center was honored with the Online News Association’s coveted General Excellence Award. In March 2007, the Center was given a special citation for the body of its investigative work from the Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

Print this





  • Please enter the word you see in the image below:

  • Facebook
Sign Up

Receive important updates by e-mail.

User Log In



Forget your password?

User registration

Become a fan
image Follow the Center

Stay Connected

Subscribe to our e-mail newsletter and get the latest from our in-depth investigations, articles, interviews, blogs, videos, and more.

Support the Center

Your support will help us bring you more investigations, articles, interviews and news related materials relevant to U.S. politics and politics abroad.

Donate

About the Center

The Center for Public Integrity is dedicated to producing original, responsible investigative journalism on issues of public concern in the USA and around the world.

More about the Center

International Consortium of Investigative Journalists

The Center’s International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) is a collaboration of some of the world’s leading investigative reporters. ICIJ extends globally the Center’s style of watchdog journalism, working with 100 reporters in 50 countries to produce long-term, transnational projects.

ICIJ website