The Investigative News Network (INN) has been selected to receive the prestigious 2011 Manship Prize for its innovative work in helping the public further understand and respond to challenges in the world.
The prize is sponsored by the Manship School of Mass Communication at Louisiana State University and the school’s Board of Visitors. The prize, first presented in 1998, is funded by an endowment from the Douglas L. Manship family to recognize exemplary use of new media technology in the service of public affairs.
INN was founded two years ago to promote investigative and public service journalism in a new media environment. With over 50 new media outlets in the Network, INN encourages and supports collaborative content projects, finds way to pool administrative resources, and helps to expand the audience for quality watchdog journalism.
“We are honored to receive this award,” said Brant Houston, a founder of the network and chair of INN’s board of directors. “It is a testament to the dedication and drive of all the network’s member organizations that provide public service journalism during this time of dramatic change in the media.”
Kevin Davis, the CEO & Executive Director of INN, said the award “recognizes the value and promise of our nonprofit, nonpartisan model for public interest and investigative journalism."
He added, “As a network we have found that we have the unique ability to serve communities with local, national and global news and increase the impact of our high quality reporting."
Among the previous recipients are Michael Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg News; Charles Benton, chair and CEO of Benton Foundation; The Times-Picayune and WWL-TV for respective coverage of Hurricane Katrina; Bill Adair, editor of Politifact; and Jan Schaffer of J-Lab, a leader in using digital innovation for community coverage.
Davis and Houston will accept the prize in the fall on behalf of the network.