SABEW Announces Winners in Annual Best in Business Contest

COLUMBIA, MO--(Marketwire - March 24, 2009) - The Society of American Business Editors and Writers announces the winners in its 14th annual Best in Business contest.

Each winning entry is now being considered for SABEW's first-ever Best of the Best awards, honoring the very best of business journalism produced at newspapers, magazines and websites during 2008. Best of the Best winners will be announced at the Best in Business awards banquet, scheduled for Monday, April 27 during SABEW's annual conference at the Westin Tabor Center in Denver. All Best in Business awards will be presented at the banquet as well.

The conference will run from April 26-28, and early-bird rates for registration and for the hotel are available through March 27. For more information about the conference, including how to register, please contact SABEW at 573-882-7862 or visit sabew.org.

The judges' comments for all winners are posted at www.sabew.org. Additional information about the conference and SABEW is available on the site as well.

The winners listed by contest, category and in alphabetical order by publication or organization, are below. If a name is misspelled or names that should be on the entry are missing, please contact Best in Business contest co-chair Jill Jorden Spitz at jspitz@azstarnet.com.

                            Overall excellence

Giant newspapers
(Average daily circulation above 325,000)
     The New York Times
     Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
     The Washington Post

Large newspapers
(circulation from 225,000 to 325,000)
     Detroit Free Press
     Rocky Mountain News
     Kansas City Star

Mid-sized newspapers
(circulation from 125,000 to 225,000)
     Miami Herald
     The Grand Rapids Press
     Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Small newspapers
(circulation under 125,000)
     Arizona Daily Star (Tucson)
     Salt Lake Tribune
     The Patriot Ledger (Quincy, MA)

Weekly business newspapers
     Indianapolis Business Journal
     Cincinnati Business Courier
     Philadelphia Business Journal

Small magazines
(circulation under 500,000)
     Bloomberg Markets

Large magazines
(circulation 500,000 and over)
     Business Week

Small websites
(up to 500,000 average monthly unique visitors)
     Crain's Chicago Business

Mid-sized websites
(500,000-2.5 million average monthly unique visitors)
     Bloomberg

Large websites
(more than 2.5 million average monthly unique visitors)
     Business Week
     BNET.com
     St. Petersburg Times


                         Business News Reporting

                              Breaking News

Giant publications
     Eric Dash, reporter; Edmund L. Andrews, reporter; Jenny Anderson,
     reporter; Vikas Bajaj, reporter; Andrew Ross Sorkin, reporter; Michael
     Barbaro, reporter; Michael J. de la Merced, reporter; Louise Story,
     reporter; Ben White, reporter; Floyd Norris, reporter; Gretchen
     Morgenson, reporter; Mary Williams Walsh, reporter; David M.
     Herszenhorn, reporter; Carl Hulse, reporter; Peter S. Goodman,
     reporter; Diana B. Henriques, reporter; and Hilda Wang, reporter, The
     New York Times: "Wall Street financial crisis"

     Jonathan Weisman, Paul Kane, Lori Montgomery, Joel Achenbach, Ashley
     Surdin, Edward Cody, Mary Jordan, Steven Pearlstein, Neil Irwin,
     David Cho, Dan Eggen and Michael Abramowitz, Washington Post: "Wall
     Street's crisis lands in Washington"

     Carrick Mollenkamp, reporter; Susanne Craig, news editor; Serena Ng,
     reporter; Aaron Lucchetti, reporter; Matthew Karnitschnig, reporter;
     Dan Fitzpatrick, reporter; Deborah Solomon, reporter; Dennis K.
     Berman, deputy editor - Money & Investing; Liam Pleven, reporter;
     Peter Lattman, reporter, The Wall Street Journal: "Financial crisis"

Large publications
     Hanah Cho, reporter; Andrea Walker, reporter; Dan Thanh Dang,
     reporter; Jay Hancock, reporter/columnist; Jamie Smith Hopkins,
     reporter; Robert Little, reporter; Sumathi Reddy, reporter; Annie
     Linsky, reporter; Scott Calvert, reporter; Trif Alatzas, editor;
     Bernie Kohn, editor; Howard Libit, editor; David Nitkin, editor, The
     Baltimore Sun: "Buffett's Rescue - Constellation Energy sale"

     Katherine Yung, staff writer; Ellen Creager, travel writer; Tim
     Higgins, staff writer; Brent Snavely, staff writer; Jewel Gopwani,
     staff writer; and Mark Phelan, columnist, Detroit Free Press: Two
     breaking stories in one day

     Jeremiah McWilliams, business reporter; Jeffrey Tomich, business
     reporter; Angela Tablac, business reporter; David Nicklaus, business
     columnist; Tim Logan, business reporter; Matthew Hathaway, metro
     reporter; Jake Wagman, metro reporter; Robert Kelly, metro reporter;
     Greg Jonsson, metro reporter; David Hunn, metro reporter, St. Louis
     Post-Dispatch: "Farewell to the King"

Mid-sized publications
     Rick Rothacker, Christina Rexrode, Jen Aronoff, Kerry Hall, Bill
     Pitzer, Elizabeth Leland, Eric Frazier, Lisa Zagaroli, Jefferson
     George, Doug Smith, Patrick Scott, Tony Mecia, The Charlotte
     Observer: "Whiplash" (Wells Fargo bid for Wachovia)

     David Shepardson, Washington bureau chief; Christine Tierney, global
     auto reporter; Gordon Trowbridge, Washington bureau; Alisa Priddle,
     Chrysler reporter; Bryce G. Hoffman, Ford reporter; Robert Snell, GM
     reporter; Daniel Howes, Business columnist and associate business
     editor, Detroit News: "Survival roadmap" (Automakers' bailout plans)

     Chris O'Brien, staff writer; Pete Carey, staff writer; Vindu Goel,
     business columnist; Pai, graphic artist; Dean Takahashi, business
     columnist; Troy Wolverton, staff writer; Mark Boslet, staff writer;
     and Jack Davis, data analyst, San Jose Mercury News: "Will it work?"
     (Microsoft/Yahoo merger proposal)

Small publications
     Tyrone Richardson, Darryl Isherwood, Daniel Patrick Sheehan, Scott
     Kraus, Patrick Lester, Greg Karp, The Morning Call (Allentown, PA.):
     "Bulldog bolts"

     Ilene Aleshire, business editor; Sherri Buri McDonald, reporter;
     Diane Dietz, reporter; Edward Russo, reporter; Anne Williams,
     reporter, Register-Guard (Eugene, OR.): "Hynix plant to shut"

Weekly publications
     Adam Linker, reporter; Lee Weisbecker, reporter; Amanda Jones Hoyle,
     reporter; and Dale Gibson, editor, Triangle Business Journal: "A
     troubled town"

     Stephen Nellis, staff writer; Barbara Pearson, staff writer; Henry
     Dubroff, editor; Emily Rancer, assistant managing editor; and Ray
     Estrada, managing editor, Pacific Coast Business Times: "Gap Fire
     coverage"

     Reporters Beth Braverman, Mark Bruno, Tim Catts, Marine Cole, Hilary
     Johnson, Matthew Monks, Neil Roland, Nicholas Rummell and Matthew
     Scott, Financial Week: "From crunch to crisis"

Real-time news organizations
     David Baily, correspondent; Kevin Krolickie, Detroit bureau chief;
     Jui Chakravorty, correspondent; Poornima Gupta, correspondent; Kim
     Soyoung, correspondent; and Nick Carey, correspondent, Thomson
     Reuters America: "GM/Chrysler deal hopes rise, then shattered"

     Anupreeta Das and Michele Gershberg, correspondents, Thomson Reuters
     America: "Microhoo: how the Blockbuster deal blew up"


                                Enterprise

Giant publications
     Susanne Craig, news editor; Jeffrey McCracken, reporter; Aaron
     Lucchetti, reporter; Kate Kelly, reporter, The Wall Street Journal:
     "The weekend that Wall Street died"

     Thomas Farragher, editor; Scott Allen, reporter; Marcella
     Bombardieri, reporter; Michael Rezendes, reporter; Liz Kowalczyk,
     reporter; Jeffrey Krasner, reporter, The Boston Globe: "A healthcare
     system badly out of balance"

     Binyamin Appelbaum and Ellen Nakashima, staff writers, The Washington
     Post: "Banking regulator played advocate over enforcer"

Large publications
     Tim Higgins, Detroit Free Press: "Pattern of harassment"

     Andrew McIntosh, Sacramento Bee: "Nail gun safety under fire"

     John Gittelsohn, The Orange County Register: "Washington Mutual
     funded home flippers"

Mid-sized publications
     Rick Rothacker, The Charlotte Observer: "The good deal that wasn't"
     Bryce G. Hoffman, Detroit News: "Ford inside story"
     Jennifer Hiller, San Antonio Express-News: "On the hot seat"

Small publications
     Dawn House, reporter, Salt Lake Tribune: "Liquor"

     Gary Pakulski, business writer, Toledo (Ohio) Blade:
     "Down but not out"

     Kevin McCallum, staff writer, Santa Rosa (CA) Press Democrat:
     "For Exchange Bank, wrong time, wrong place"

Weekly publications
     Richard Clough, Los Angeles Business Journal: "IndyMac's last gasps"
     David Sterrett, Crain's Chicago Business: "McD's eye-opener"
     Bill King, Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal: "Finding
     growth in green"

Real-time news organizations
     John Helyar, Editor-at-Large; Alison Fitzgerald, Mark Pittman and
     Serena Saitto, Reporters, Bloomberg News: "Ten days changed Wall
     Street"

     Mitch Weiss, The Associated Press: "Weak rules cripple appraiser
     oversight"

     Jordan Robertson, Bloomberg News: "China lets child workers die"

Large magazines
     Richard Behar, Fast Company: "China storms Africa"
     Robert Berner, Business Week: "The watchdogs who warned us"

Small magazines
     William Selway and Martin Z. Braun, Bloomberg Markets: "Schools flunk
     finance"


                                 Columns

Giant publications
     Andrew Ross Sorkin, The New York Times
     Steven Pearlstein, The Washington Post
     Gretchen Morgenson, The New York Times

Large publications
     David Nicklaus, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
     Al Lewis, Denver Post
     Tom Walsh, Detroit Free Press

Mid-sized publications
     Dan Haar, Hartford Courant
     Mitchell Schnurman, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
     Harriet Brackey-Johnson, Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale)

Small publications
     Jon Chesto, The Patriot Ledger (Quincy, MA.)
     Greg Karp, Morning Call (Allentown, PA.)

Weekly publications
     Greg Hinz, Crain's Chicago Business
     Steve Symanovich, San Francisco Business Times
     Simon Dumenco, Advertising Age

Real-time news organizations
     Al Lewis, Dow Jones
     Liz Pulliam Weston, MSN Money
     Jonathan Weil, Bloomberg


                                 Projects

Giant publications
     Michael Hiltzik, staff writer; Lisa Girion, staff writer; Daniel
     Costello, former staff writer, Los Angeles Times: "Shedding risk"

     Gretchen Morgenson, reporter; Peter S. Goodman, reporter; Eric Dash,
     reporter; Julie Creswell, reporter; Charles Duhigg, reporter; Carter
     Dougherty, reporter; Jo Becker, reporter; Sheryl Gay Stolberg,
     reporter; Stephen Labaton, reporter; Kitty Bennett, reporter, The
     New York Times: "The reckoning"

     Thomas Farragher, editor; Scott Allen, reporter; Marcella Bombardieri,
     reporter; Michael Rezendes, reporter; Liz Kowalczyk, reporter; Jeffrey
     Krasner, reporter, The Boston Globe:  "Partners HealthCare"

Large publications
     Michael J. Berens and Ken Armstrong, The Seattle Times: "Culture of
     resistance"

     Cary Spivak, investigative business reporter; Dan Bice, columnist;
     and Ben Poston, reporter, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "Easy money"

     Fred Schulte, reporter; James Drew, reporter; and Bernie Kohn, editor,
     Baltimore Sun: "Hospital debt"

Mid-sized publications
     Ames Alexander, Kerry Hall, Franco Ordonez, John Simmons, Peter St.
     Onge, Ted Mellnik, Reid Creager, Rogelio Aranda, Holly Farrant, Bill
     Pitzer, Dave Puckett, Dave Enna, Tony Lone Fight, Marion Paynter,
     Maria David, Jim Walser, Gary Schwab, Mitch Weiss, Glenn Burkins and
     Patrick Scott, The Charlotte Observer: "The cruelest cuts"

     Matthew Haggman, Rob Barry and Jack Dolan, The Miami Herald:
     "Borrowers betrayed"

     Christine Tierney, Detroit News, "Russian revolution"

Small publications
     David Giffels, David Knox, Betty Lin-Fisher, Mark J. Price, Tracy
     Wheeler, Cheryl Powell, Lisa Abraham, Kim Hone-McMahan, Mary Beth
     Breckenridge, Bill Lilley, Katie Byard and Dennis Willard, Akron
     (Ohio) Beacon-Journal: "The American dream"

     The Press Democrat, Kevin McCallum, staff writer, The Press Democrat
     (Santa Rosa, CA): "Life savings lost to fraud/The money trail"

     Steven Oberbeck, The Salt Lake Tribune: "Hidden dangers"

Weekly publications
     Editor Bernard Dagenais; Managing Editor Dell Poncet; Design Editor
     John Spencer; Associate Editors Frank Devlin and Sonja Sherwood;
     Staff Writers Athena D. Merritt, Natalie Kostelni, Jeff Blumenthal,
     John George, Peter Key and Peter Van Allen, Philadelphia Business
     Journal: "Price of crime"

     Lucy May, senior reporter, and Dan Monk, senior reporter, Cincinnati
     Business Courier:  "Empty promise"

     Bill Orben, associate managing editor; Denise Hicks, research
     director; Anjali Fluker, staff writer; Dan Ping, former staff writer;
     Chris Kauffmann, staff writer; and Tiffany Beck, former staff writer,
     Orlando Business Journal: "Water woes"

Real-time news organizations
     William Selway and Martin Z. Braun, Bloomberg News: "Broken promises"

     Staff, Bloomberg News: "Recipe for famine"

     Eric Carvin, Associated Press Top Stories Desk editor, and AP Business
     Reporters Chris Rugaber, Alan Zibel, Rachel Beck, Madlen Read, Ellen
     Simon, David Pitt, Marcy Gordon, Mark Jewell, Marty Crutsinger,
     Jeannine Aversa, Janna Elphinstone, Dirk Lammers, Shaila Dani, Candice
     Choi, Andrew Miga, Tom Murphy, Dennis Conrad, Dave Carpenter, John
     Porretto, Kimberly Johnson, Vinnee Tong, Chris Bain, Deborah Yao and
     Joe Bel Bruno, The Associated Press: "Meltdown 101"


                            Online Excellence

                              Breaking News

Large websites
     Staff of The New York Times/nytimes.com, The New York Times:
     "Sunday, Sept. 14"

Small/mid-sized websites
     Rick Rothacker, Christina Rexrode, Jefferson George, Kirsten Valle,
     Jen Aronoff, Stella M. Hopkins, Fred Clasen-Kelly, Kerry Hall, Doug
     Smith, Deirdre McGruder, Trevor Freeze, Tony Lone Fight, The Charlotte
     Observer: "Wells Fargo wins Wachovia"

     Kirsten Grind, Eric Engleman and staff, Puget Sound Business Journal:
     "Wamu seized by regulators and sold off"

     Reporter Andy Giegerich, Reporter Erik Siemers, Managing editor
     Matthew Kish, Portland Business Journal: "Freightliner closing Swan
     Island plant"


                                 Projects

Large websites
     Kris Hundley, Kathleen Flynn and Kainaz Amaria, St. Petersburg Times:
     "Testing grounds"

     Reporter Louise Story; Reporter Tara Siegel Bernard; Reporter Jenny
     Anderson; Reporter Mark Landler; Video Journalist Matt Orr; Reporter
     Brad Stone; Senior Producer, Video David Rummel; Reporter Jonathan
     Glater; Video Journalist Emily Hager; Producer, Video Rob Harris;
     Producer, Video Todd Heisler; Multimedia Producer Tom Jackson;
     Multimedia Producer Amy O'Leary; Graphics Editor Amy Schoenfeld;
     Graphics Editor Amanda Cox; and Graphics Editor Matthew Bloch,
     The New York Times: "The debt trap"

     Assignment Editor Doug Carroll; Multimedia Producer Julia Schmalz;
     Senior Designer JuanThomassie; Enterprise Editor Mindy Fetterman;
     Designer William Couch; Reporter Barbara De Lollis; Reporter Marilyn
     Adams; and Researcher Anne Carey, USA Today: "Flight cutbacks"

Mid-sized websites
     John Simmons, Bill Pitzer, Tony Lone Fight, Peter Weinberger, Ames
     Alexander, Peter St. Onge, Franco Ordonez, Kerry Hall, The Charlotte
     Observer: "The cruelest cuts"

     Ronald Campbell, The Orange County Register: "Lenders did booming
     business"

     Roberta Rampton, Thomson Reuters: "Agflation"

Small websites
     Matt Carmichael, research director; Michelle Evans, associate research
     director; and Jeff Hartvigsen, multimedia producer, Crain's Chicago
     Business: "Market facts"

     Ian Lamont, David Cotriss and Mark Henricks, The Industry Standard:
     "Where are they now?"

     Matthew Carmichael, Michelle Evans, Allison Riggio, Melissa Phee, Jeff
     Hartvigsen, Jennifer Fletcher and Stephen J. Serio, Crain's Chicago
     Business: "Best places to work in Chicago"


                           Audio/Visual Reports

Large websites
     Gretchen Morgenson, reporter, video journalist; Matt Orr, senior
     producer; David Rummel, video journalist; Emily Hager, producer; Rob
     Harris, producer; Todd Heisler, The New York Times, "The debt trap"

Small/Mid-sized websites
     Thomas Mucha, assistant managing editor; Brandon Copple, managing
     editor; and Mark Scheffler, freelancer, Crain's Chicago Business:
     "Entrepreneurs in action"


                                  Blogs

Large websites
     Jason Gertzen and David Hayes, The Kansas City Star

     Economics Columnist David Leonhardt; Online Editor, Economics
     Catherine Rampell; and Web Producer R.M. Schneiderman, The New York
     Times

     Jeffrey Davis, Executive Editor, BNET.com

Mid-sized websites
     Jonathan Lansner (assisted by reporters Mary Ann Milbourn and Jeff
     Collins), Orange County Register

Small websites
     Greg Hinz, Crain's Chicago Business
     Ian Lamont, TheStandard,com
     Jonathan Blum, blumsday.com


                          Creative Use of Online

Large websites
     Reporter Gretchen Morgenson; multimedia producer Amy O'Leary;
     multimedia producer Tom Jackson; senior producer, video David Rummel;
     graphics editor Amy Schoenfeld; graphics editor Amanda Cox; graphics
     editor Matthew Bloch; video journalist Emily Hager; video journalist
     Matt Orr; producer, video Rob Harris; producer, video Todd Heisler,
     The New York Times: "The debt trap"

     Glenn Hall, Editor; and Bill McCandless, executive editor,
     thestreet.com: "TheStreet.com mobile"

     David Pogue, technology columnist; Danielle Belopotosky, Web producer;
     Raymond McCrea Jones, photo producer; Sam Grobart, personal technology
     editor; Tom Jackson, multimedia producer; John Niedermeyer, designer
     and Zach Wise, lead multimedia producer, The New York Times:
     "Pogue-o-matic"

Mid-sized websites
     Tony Lone Fight, John Simmons, Bill Pitzer, Peter Weinberger, Ames
     Alexander, Franco Ordonez, Kerry Hall, Peter St. Onge, Ted Mellnik,
     Reid Creager, Rogelio Aranda, Holly Farrant, Dave Puckett, Dave Enna,
     Marion Paynter, Maria David, Jim Walser, Gary Schwab, Mitch Weiss,
     Glenn Burkins and Patrick Scott, The Charlotte Observer:
     "The cruelest cuts"

     Assistant Managing Editor Ken Wheaton; Jr., Web Producer/Editor
     Charlie Moran and Web Products Manager Rahmin Pavlovic, Advertising
     Age: "Ad Age Power 150"

     Consumer Affairs reporter Sheryl Harris; online graphic artist Felesia
     McDonald, (Cleveland) Plain Dealer: "Scamfinders"

Small websites
     Ian Lamont, director of product and design; Eric Hill, contributing
     writer; Kristen Nicole, contributing writer; and Bill Snyder, The
     Industry Standard: "10 'Net services that will succeed (and 10 that
     will probably fail)"


                             Student Contest

For stories written for professional publications
Catarina Saralva, Triangle Business Journal: "The adult-care gap"
(University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill)

For stories written for student publications
Laura Marcinek, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill: "Private giving
could slide"