TWN
THE WASHINGTON NEWSPAPER Vol. 97, No 5 May 2012
Journal of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association and Allied Daily Newspapers of Washington • www.wnpa.com
story, BNC REGULAR ENTRIES DUE MAY 4 see Page 4
Times, The Stranger win Pulitzers Reporters’ series on state methadone program nets Times its ninth prize
The Seattle Times
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eattle Times reporters Michael J. Berens and Ken Armstrong have been awarded the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in investigative reporting for their work exposing the state of Washington’s financially motivated practice of routinely prescribing a deadly pain drug for people in state-subsidized health care. Another Seattle journalist, Eli Sanders, 34, associate editor of The Stranger, won the Pulitzer in feature writing for his story “The Bravest Woman in Seattle,” about a South Park woman who survived the brutal 2009 attack by Isaiah Kalebu that took the life of her partner. In the Times’ three-part series titled “Methadone and the Politics of Pain,” Berens and Armstrong revealed that at least 2,173 people died in Washington state be-
tween 2003 and 2011 after accidentally overdosing on methadone, which for eight years was one of the state’s two preferred painkillers for Medicaid patients and recipients of workers’ compensation. The Pulitzer citation honors Berens and Armstrong for “their investigation of how a little known governmental body in Washington State moved vulnerable patients from safer pain-control medication to methadone, a cheaper but more dangerous drug, coverage that prompted statewide health warnings.” In an unusual move, the Pulitzer board awarded a second prize in the investigativereporting category. The Associated Press also won for documenting the New York Police Department’s widespread spying on Muslims. The Times series reported that the poor have been hit hardest by the state’s reliance on methadone. While Medicaid recipients make up about 8 percent of Washington’s adult population, they account for 48 percent
See PULITZERS, page 3
Ellen M. Banner/the Seattle Times
Investigations editor Jim Neff, second from left, celebrates after the announcement that the Seattle Times investigative reporters Ken Armstrong, left, and Mike Berens, second from right, won the Pulitzer Prize in investigative reporting. At right, reporter Christine Clarridge gives Berens a hug.
Black selects new president
WET, WILD WINNER
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loria Fletcher has been named President of Sound Publishing. Fletcher comes to Sound from Gatehouse Media, where she was Regional Vice President responsible for 85 publications spread over 13 states based in Joplin, Mo. Prior to Gloria Gatehouse, she Fletcher was Division Vice President for Community Newspaper Holdings from 2000 to 2007, responsible for their Oklahoma group. She also worked for American Publishing Company from 1988
See FLETCHER, page 2
Greg Farrar/Issaquah Press
The City of Issaquah's water carnival, "Beat the Heat: Splash Day" was capped by a rainbow to win first place for Greg Farrar and the Issaquah Press in the Color Feature Category, Circulation Group IV of the 2011 Washington Better Newspaper Contest.
Register by May 24 for editors conference
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egistration for the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors’ conference, set for June 26-July 2 in Bellingham, is due May 24. About 100 editors from the U.S. and Canada, as well as the United Kingdom and Australia, are expected to gather on the campus of Western Washington University. Session topics include writing stories and editorials that engage readers, open government, and access to public records.
One highlight is an opportunity to learn about the effects of Border Patrol on local communities and take related field trips. Critiques of editorial pages are available also. Frank Garred And not to be discounted is the chance to meet and spend time talking with 100 or so editors of weekly newspapers.
Frank Garred, conference coordinator and retired Port Townsend Leader publisher, urges editors at WNPA member newspapers to attend. “These folk are impassioned editorialists determined to preserve and perpetuate independent editorial leadership within their communities,” he said. An agenda and registration for the four-day conference are available at wnpa. com/events and at ISWNE.org. Or contact Garred, fpg@olympus.net or (360) 385-3313.
Two new publishers named in Friday Harbor, Eastsound Sound Publishing Inc., Poulsbo
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oxanne Angel has been promoted to publisher of the Journal of the San Juan Islands, Friday Harbor, and the Islands’ Weekly on Lopez Island. The promotion was announced by Lori Maxim, Sound Publishing’s Vice President for West Sound Operations. “Roxanne is a Roxanne real shining star Angel in our company,” Maxim said. “She brings a high See SOUND, page 2