BuzzFeed’s Alden wins SABEW’s Birger award

William Alden, 27, a San Francisco-based business reporter for BuzzFeed News covering the technology industry, is the 2016 winner of the Larry Birger Young Business Journalist prize, honoring journalists younger than 30.

He will receive the award and a $1,500 honorarium Oct. 7 at the Society of American Business Editors and Writers’ New York Fall Conference in midtown Manhattan.

It is the third year for the competition. The past two years’ winners, Cezary Podkul of ProPublica and Mina Kimes of ESPN the Magazine, will also be in New York to congratulate Alden.

Additionally, the judging panel chose to honor three finalists: Alison Griswold, reporter, Quartz; David Benoit, reporter, Wall Street Journal; and Emily Glazer, reporter, Wall Street Journal

Made possible by a $7,500 gift from rbb Communications of Miami, the award commemorates Larry Birger, a former Miami Herald business editor who led SABEW as president in 1977. Birger was later a principal in rbb until his death in 1998.

Josh Merkin, vice president of rbb Communications, will present the award to Alden in New York on Oct. 7. “Business journalism plays a vital role in our society, and we feel it’s important to support the next generation of great reporters,” said Merkin in a statement. “With this award, we honor Larry’s legacy while showing our appreciation for the great quality of work being produced today.”

Alden is a senior business reporter at BuzzFeed News, where he covers Silicon Valley startups and venture capital. His articles have pulled back the curtain on Palantir Technologies, the secretive data-analysis company, and exposed legal problems at Zenefits that led to the resignation of the startup insurance broker’s CEO.

Previously, he covered Wall Street for the DealBook section of The New York Times.