The National Association of Real Estate Editors announced the winners of its 62nd Annual Journalism Awards, and the top award — best overall entry by an individual — went to Felix Gillette of Bloomberg Businessweek.
Judges’ commented, “To be blunt, the reporter wrote the hell out of this. It is a complicated story about underdog, ordinary people bringing down the cons scamming their condo complex. Yet despite the wealth of information that the reporter had to unearth and bring together, the article was compellingly told, starting with a world-class lead that ended with, ‘They didn’t think there would be four old ladies who wouldn’t put up with their stuff. They really pissed me off.'”
The Best Freelance Collection was awarded to Kenneth Harney of the Washington Post Writers Group and Inman News.
The judges commented: “Particularly outstanding was his hard-hitting expose of special IRS deals going to dead people, babies, and prisoners. Wow! He placed the blame for housing tax credit screw-ups squarely on the IRS. After several months of continuous research, the reporter was able to detail startling incompetence in the Internal Revenue Service.”
The Best Entry by a Young Journalist Award went to The Hollywood Reporter’s Daniel Miller.
The judges commented: “In a very sophisticated story, the reporter took on one of the most controversial read estate stories in California — the Church of Scientology buying up a lot of key properties in Hollywood. He walked confidently through the landmines and emerged with a tough but fair story. Public records provided the background of a story that the reporter enriched with a broad spectrum of interviews and description.”
The award winners were selected by a panel of expert judges from the E. W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University. Professor Patrick S. Washburn, a former news reporter and editor, chaired the panel of jurors, which awarded prizes totaling $8,000 in 25 different categories with three overall winners.
See all of the winners here.
