Mississippi investigative reporter to win
Zenger Award from UA Journalism Department
and Arizona Newspapers Association Foundation
The University of Arizona Department of Journalism and the
Arizona Newspapers Association Foundation have named Jerry
Mitchell the 2007 winner of the John Peter and Anna Catherine
Zenger Award.
Mitchell, an investigative reporter for the
Mississippi Clarion-Ledger, has worked since 1989
pursuing evidence about killings during the civil rights era.
His work so far has helped put four Klansmen behind bars and
inspired countless other investigations. Authorities in
Mississippi and six other states have re-examined 29 killings
from the civil rights era and made 29 arrests, leading to 23
convictions. The Justice Department is now re-examining more
than 100 deaths from the era.
For more than 50
years, this award has honored people who have made extraordinary
contributions to freedom of the press and the people's right to
know.
"Jerry Mitchell's reporting exemplifies the type of
courageous work the Zenger award is designed to honor," said UA
journalism department head Jacqueline Sharkey. "His
determination to continue informing the public about these
crimes and their impact on individuals, families and our society
sets an example for every journalist."
The Zenger award will
be presented at the Arizona Newspapers Association annual
meeting and convention on Saturday, Sept. 22, in Scottsdale,
Ariz. The presentation will be part of an awards luncheon at
which Freedom of Information awards honoring Arizona reporters
also will be presented. Mitchell will offer the keynote address
and speak to classes in the UA Journalism Department.
Mitchell, who has received more than 20 national awards, says he
is humbled by the Zenger honor.
"To win an award named after
Zenger, knowing what they mean to journalism in this country,
it's incredible. If that weren't enough, the list of past
winners is phenomenal and include many of my heroes, such as
Woodward and Bernstein," Mitchell said.
The Zenger Award is
named for a husband and wife team of pioneering journalists.
John Peter Zenger was editor of the New York Weekly Journal in
1734 when he was jailed by British colonial authorities on
charges of seditious libel. He had criticized the corrupt
administration of New York's governor, William Cosby. While
Zenger was imprisoned, his wife, Anna Catherine Zenger,
continued to publish the newspaper.
Zenger's subsequent
trial and acquittal is considered a landmark case in the history
of freedom of the press, helping to lay the foundation for the
First Amendment.
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