Overseas Press Club names biz journalism winners

The Overseas Press Club named its 74th annual winners for the OPC Awards, and several are business journalism.

Jeremy Page of The Wall Street Journal won the Bob Considine Award for best newspaper or wire service interpretation of international affairs for his stories about the mysterious death of a British businessman, but provided startling glimpses into the life of one of China’s leading Communist Party bosses before he was fired in disgrace, as well as a look at the privileged lifestyles enjoyed by at least some corrupt politicians in today’s China.

The judges wrote, “The stories are notable for depth of reporting, an even presentation of the evidence, and a balanced tone. Nevertheless, taken together, they form a damning case that the wife of Chongqing party leader Bo Xilai may have poisoned businessman and family adviser Neil Heywood, a crime for which she was ultimately convicted. Aside from exposing the political scandal of the year in China, Page interprets the events in light of the power struggles taking place in the country just prior to its once-in-a-decade transfer of leadership.”

Michael Riley, Ashlee Vance with Zoe Schneeweiss of Bloomberg Businessweek won the Frank Morton Award for best business reporting abroad in magazines for their story, “It’s Not Paranoia If They’re Stealing Your Secrets: Inside the Chinese Boom in Corporate Espionage.”

The judges wrote, “This timely, well-written account shows how the unprecedented scale of Chinese corporate espionage and wholesale intellectual property theft is devastating U.S. companies. This strongly sourced story details the plight of American Superconductor Corp. which discovered that Sinovel, a Chinese wind turbine manufacturer that was once its biggest customer, schemed to steal and illegally replicate AMSC’s software and electronic systems to power more than 1,000 Chinese windmills.”

David Barboza of The New York Times won the Malcolm Forbes Award for best newspaper or wire service business reporting abroad for “China’s Secret Fortunes.”

The judges wrote, “David Barboza penetrated to the heart of China’s secretive system to provide an intricate and painstaking chronicle of linkages between the Communist Party’s most powerful families and the government’s state-owned enterprises and investments. The fact that The New York Times placed all four parts of the series on its front page helped change the world’s debate about the structure of power and wealth in China. Barboza and the newspaper took large risks in exposing the wealth that China’s top families have accumulated. The Times later reported that Chinese hackers persistently attacked the publication’s computer systems during the reporting for this series.”

Michael Forsythe, Shai Oster, Natasha Khan, Dune Lawrence, Ben Richardson and Henry Sanderson of Bloomberg News won for Best Investigative Reporting in any medium for “Revolution to Riches.”

The judges wrote, “Through painstaking analysis of the families of Xi Jinping and the so-called ‘Eight Immortals’ and ingenious scrutiny of regulatory filings to trace holding companies to these families, the reporters were able to demonstrate for the first time how China’s elite have used political influence for enormous personal gain. In the process, they have fundamentally changed our understanding of the Chinese state.”

See all of the winners here.