Reuters' US business journalists honoured

Among 116 honoured works, Reuters Rob Cox of Reuters Breakingviews won the digital - commentary category for blog commentary on the firearms industry. The judges called it “An insightful, original and sharply written series on the contentious issue of firearms and the interplay between Wall Street and gunmakers and sellers. Rob Cox analyzes various facets of the trade objectively, as a business, rather than making it a guns-are-all-good or guns-are-the-worst-thing-ever story.”

In the news agencies - explanatory category, Scot Paltrow won for a story headed How a Small White House Agency Stalls Life-Saving Regulations. The judges said: “This piece was superb on every level: the reporting was deep and insightful; the writing was clear, helping explain a complex topic; and it truly shed light on a little-known federal agency that held many lives in its hands,” and added: “It defines what explanatory journalism should be.”

Charles Levinson, was a finalist in the same category for Wall Street’s Way, which the judges said “brings a fresh set of eyes to a topic where there aren’t that many new angles to explore. In taking a close look at the bombed out landscape of post-financial crisis Wall Street, Levinson shows that Dodd-Frank coupled with the relentless political demonization by Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and others hasn’t stopped the game playing inside the Beltway that creates new hazards in the markets. Deeply reported and clearly written and edited, it takes the complex and important and makes it understandable. Great work.”

In the technology section, Joseph Menn was a finalist for cybersecurity coverage. “Reuters’ coverage of cybersecurity often reads like a spy novel, making it all the more disturbing and revealing,” the judges said. “The stories in this series expose an underworld of hackers and spies and the often-disturbing ways that governments and companies confront cybersecurity.”

Bloomberg led the field with seven honours, while The New York Times earned six - all winners.

Winners and finalists will be honoured at a ceremony during SABEW’s spring conference near Washington on 21 May. ■