Bloomberg’s Evans wins Columbia award

An investigative reporter whose work has revealed how secret profit schemes cheated the families of fallen U.S. soldiers, sickened or killed patients and cost taxpayers billions of dollars is the recipient of the 2011 John Chancellor Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism announced Tuesday.

David Evans, senior writer for Bloomberg Markets magazine, was selected in recognition of his tenacious reporting over two decades on stories that expose wrongdoing and bring about reform.

The John Chancellor Award is presented each year to a reporter for his or her cumulative accomplishments. The prize honors the legacy of pioneering television correspondent and longtime NBC News anchor John Chancellor.

A nine-member committee selected Evans for the award, which bestows a $25,000 prize for the winner. The award will be presented at a dinner at Columbia University’s Low Library in New York on November 16.

“From the financial crisis to the pharmaceutical industry, David Evans breaks stories and then goes further to uncover corruption in the public interest,” said Nicholas Lemann, dean of the journalism school and chair of the award’s selection committee, in a statement. “Evans’ work is truly original and an example of the best of journalism. He embodies the spirit of the John Chancellor Award.”