New York Times Columnist Wins Aronson Award at Hunter College

Date: April, 14, 2004
Contact: Meredith Halpern (meredith.halpern@hunter.cuny.edu)
Phone: (212) 772-4068

(New York, NY) – April 14, 2004 – Paul Krugman, an op-ed columnist for The New York Times, today received the 2003 James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism at Hunter College. Krugman, who also teaches economics and international affairs at Princeton, won this year’s award for his columns “that turn economic analysis into an incisive tool for revealing social injustice.”

The 2003 Aronson “Cartooning With a Conscience” prize was awarded to Mark Fiore (www.markfiore.com) for “extending the reach, humor and impact of political cartooning through the use of web animation.”  Formerly the staff cartoonist for the San Jose Mercury News, Fiorehasappeared in the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, The Village Voice and many online journalism websites.

“The journalists we’re honoring today exemplify the goals and ideals of social journalism. Their work not only reflects superb reporting and analysis, but a conscience,” said Hunter College President Jennifer J. Raab. “In the spirit of Hunter journalism professor James Aronson, these journalists seek to understand the world in all its complexity and convey its nuances to us.”

“Too often journalists duck social justice issues, fearing their commitment will be called partisan or will draw political ‘flak.’ This award is designed to embolden them to pursue their highest ideals,” said Peter Parisi, Associate Professor of Film and Media Studies at Hunter and the Award’s coordinator.

In addition to Krugman and Fiore, this year’s other winners are: Mohamad Bazzi, a 1997 Hunter graduate, whose reporting for Newsday from Iraq is being recognized for his ability to bring out the extraordinary human and social complexity of the war in Iraq. Texas Observer reporters Jake Bernstein and Dave Mann are being honored for their expose of a plan to use possibly illegal corporate donations to take over the Texas state legislature and serve corporate and partisan interests.

A Boston Globe team of reporters John Donnelly, Colin Nickerson, David Filipov and Raja Mishra won for showing how the lack of basic health care causes many thousands of needless deaths worldwide and The New York Times’ David Barstow and Lowell Bergman are Aronson Award winners for their two-part series, examining death and injury among American workers and the employers who break basic safety rules.

The award winners participated in a panel discussion, “Opportunities and Obstacles for Social Justice Journalism” after the awards presentation. 

Established in 1990 by the Film and Media Studies Department at Hunter, the James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism commemorates James Aronson’s 50 years in journalism and teaching. A journalism professor at Hunter, Aronson was a major figure in 20th century American journalismwho spent a lifetime committed to world peace, social justice, and human dignity.  He was founder and editor of the crusader newsweekly The National Guardian. He died in 1988.

Pastrecipients of the James Aronson Award include The New Yorker’s William Finnegan, San Francisco Chronicle’s Seth Rosenfeld and syndicated editorial cartoonist Ted Rall.

-HC-

About Hunter
With a highly diverse student population of more than 20,000, Hunter is the largest college in the City University of New York (CUNY) system and the first choice among all CUNY applicants. Founded in 1870, the College offers more than 170 undergraduate and graduate programs. Hunter is noted for its professional schools in education, health sciences, nursing and social work, as well as its excellence in the liberal arts. Heralded as the "Crown Jewel of CUNY" by The Princeton Review, Hunter College has a distinguished reputation for nurturing talented minority scientists and meeting the challenge of providing high-quality science education in the 21st century. The College also oversees the Hunter College Campus Schools serving gifted and talented students, preschool through grade 12. For more information about Hunter College, please visit our Web site at http://www.hunter.cuny.edu.

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