NYT, WSJ, Bloomberg News, Charlotte Observer among Loeb winners

TALKING BIZ NEWS EXCLUSIVE

The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Miami Herald and the Charlotte Observer were among the winners of the annual Gerald Loeb Awards, considered the Pulitzer Prizes of business journalism.

In the large newspaper category, The Times won for a series called “The Reckoning,” which explored the causes behind the current financial crisis.

In the medium and small newspaper category, the Miami Herald won for “Borrowers Betrayed,” which uncovered that Florida has licensed more than 1,000 convicted felons as mortgage brokers and has allowed 2,000 felons to work as unlicensed loan originators.

David Leonhardt of the New York Times magazine won in the magazine category for “Obamaonomics.”

Brian Carney of The Journal won in the commentary category for a series of columns about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Journal also won in the breaking news category for “The Day that Changed Wall Street.”

The Charlotte Observer’s Rick Rothacker won in the beat reporting category for his coverage of Wachovia Corp. Also winning in the beat reporting category was Gretchen Morgenson of the Times for her Wall Street coverage.

MSN Money won in the online category for “Middle Class Crunch,” while William Selway and Martin Z. Braun from Bloomberg News won in the news service category.

Michael Lewis of the now-defunct Conde Nast Portfolio won in the feature writing category for “The End,” a look at changes on Wall Street.

“60 Minutes” won both of the television categories, with its breaking news piece “Economic Crisis: House of Cards,” on the subprime mortgage crisis, and enterprise segment “The Wasteland,” about the toxic remains of recycled electronics.

Charles R. Morris of Public Affairs won in the business book category for “Trillion Dollar Meltdown: Easy Money, High Rollers, and the Great Credit Crash.”

The awards were given at a dinner in New York on Monday night.