Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Washington Post
May 17, 2008
Pg. 3
By Matt Zapotosky, Washington Post Staff Writer
Two Washington Post reporters won the 2007 Gerald R. Ford Prizes for Distinguished Reporting, one for coverage of the presidency and the other for coverage of national defense, it was announced yesterday.
White House correspondent Peter Baker, who has since left the newspaper, won for reporting on the presidency, and Rick Atkinson, who is on leave to write a book, won for a series of articles on national defense. Each winner is to receive $5,000.
Atkinson's prize-winning stories detailed the United States' effort to defeat roadside bombs in Iraq.
He wrote them during what he described as a brief hiatus from his leave to write three books about the role of the U.S. military in liberating Europe during World War II.
"I tried to approach it to some extent as a historian as well as a journalist," he said of the topic of his newspaper series.
The judges wrote that he delivered "an original perspective, great depth of analysis and a wealth of investigative research to the topic." Baker was praised for his "exceptionally trenchant appraisal of President George W. Bush in his penultimate year in office."
Baker "portrayed a beleaguered president with insight, clarity, and compassion, balancing accomplishments against goals and aspirations," the judges wrote. They said he presented "the character of this President, a leader confident of his actions, at peace with himself, and secure in his abiding faith."
They lauded his "diligence in finding, interviewing, and using respected and relevant sources."
May 17, 2008
Pg. 3
By Matt Zapotosky, Washington Post Staff Writer
Two Washington Post reporters won the 2007 Gerald R. Ford Prizes for Distinguished Reporting, one for coverage of the presidency and the other for coverage of national defense, it was announced yesterday.
White House correspondent Peter Baker, who has since left the newspaper, won for reporting on the presidency, and Rick Atkinson, who is on leave to write a book, won for a series of articles on national defense. Each winner is to receive $5,000.
Atkinson's prize-winning stories detailed the United States' effort to defeat roadside bombs in Iraq.
He wrote them during what he described as a brief hiatus from his leave to write three books about the role of the U.S. military in liberating Europe during World War II.
"I tried to approach it to some extent as a historian as well as a journalist," he said of the topic of his newspaper series.
The judges wrote that he delivered "an original perspective, great depth of analysis and a wealth of investigative research to the topic." Baker was praised for his "exceptionally trenchant appraisal of President George W. Bush in his penultimate year in office."
Baker "portrayed a beleaguered president with insight, clarity, and compassion, balancing accomplishments against goals and aspirations," the judges wrote. They said he presented "the character of this President, a leader confident of his actions, at peace with himself, and secure in his abiding faith."
They lauded his "diligence in finding, interviewing, and using respected and relevant sources."