SABEW names Best in Business winners

The Society of American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW) announced Thursday the winners and finalists in its 21st annual Best in Business Awards competition, which recognizes outstanding business journalism that was published or aired in 2015.

Adding up winners and finalists, Bloomberg led with seven honors, while The New York Times earned six honors — all winners.

A diverse group of news outlets earned four honors apiece: ProPublica, Quartz, Reuters, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Minneapolis Star Tribune, The Center for Public Integrity, and International Business Times.

News outlets with three honors included The Wall Street Journal, The Associated Press, CNBC, Portland Business Journal, Fortune, and Institutional Investor.

The 116 honored works represent all corners of the financial news industry. To read the complete list of winners and finalists and the judges’ comments, click here.

“The quality of this year’s honorees is really excellent, and it’s great to see so many different organizations having an impact with their business reporting,” said SABEW President Joanna Ossinger, team leader at First Word Americas FX at Bloomberg News. “We at SABEW are proud to honor such good work.”

SABEW will honor the winners and finalists at a ceremony on Saturday, May 21, during the 53rd annual spring conference in the Washington, D.C., area. The conference and ceremony will be held at the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel in Crystal City, Va.

More than 190 working journalists and academics served as contest judges, sifting through 880 entries representing 175 news outlets across 71 categories.

Here is a sampling of the winners honored by SABEW judges:

• The Associated Press investigated the Thai seafood industry’s use of slaves to catch and package seafood sold in the U.S., a series that led to the release of some 2,000 people.
• ProPublica explained in words and interactive graphics how debt collectors are more likely to sue black people.
• Quartz produced a thought-provoking and visually arresting feature about the Internet’s underground economy.
• International Business Times examined how private prisons exploit inmates’ use of telecommunications by levying huge fees.
• The Wall Street Journal cinematically chronicled the desperation of a young banker who admitted his role in an interest-rate rigging scandal.
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel exposed in a series of stories the health threats faced by workers in the coffee-roasting industry.
• Bloomberg Businessweek revealed that a CEO who cast himself as a hero for cutting his salary later earned hefty amounts from speaking fees and a book deal.
• The New York Times showed how billions of dollars tainted by corruption and tax avoidance flow unchecked into New York’s real-estate market.
• Portland Business Journal exposed why Oregon has emerged as a haven for the registration of shell companies that often hide dubious activities.
• Student journalists from Baruch College/CUNY produced a series of multimedia stories on entrepreneurs in the emerging Cuba economy.
• Fortune employed shoe-leather reporting and narrative skill to illuminate how lax computer security at Sony enabled hackers to leak company emails.
• CNBC demonstrated great skill in using social media to deliver news in all formats and to engage with its audience.
• Reuters produced a series of balanced and sharply written commentaries on the interplay between Wall Street and the gun industry.
• Minneapolis Star Tribune published a series of insightful columns on the beleaguered retailer Target, a major local employer.
• The Seattle Times, The Center for Public Integrity, and BuzzFeed News jointly exposed the high fees and interest rates of a mobile-home business owned by Warren Buffett.