Catholic Spirit Journalist Wins Egan Award

EGAN AWARD FOR JOURNALISTIC EXCELLENCE WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Catholic Relief Services Honors Outstanding Catholic Journalists 

Baltimore, MD, June 3, 2010 – Catholic Relief Services (CRS) today announced the winners of the 2010 Egan Award for Journalistic Excellence competition at the Catholic Press Association Convention in New Orleans. The award recognizes journalists who have written about humanitarian and social justice issues for Catholic publications in the United States.  The 2010 winners are as follows:

  • Division A (national circulation): Barbara Fraser for her article “Nun helps Bolivia’s street kids build future from past of addiction” in Catholic News Service
  • Division B (regional circulation above 35,000): J.D. Long-Garcia for his article “Life savers or desert desecrators?” in the Catholic Sun and  Julie Carroll, for her article “Modern-day slavery a reality in Minnesota, across globe” in the Catholic Spirit
  • Division C (regional circulation under 35,000): Liz Quinn for her article “‘Out of Africa’: Young Woman Returns Home from Kenya’” in the Belleville Messenger

All winners will be awarded a trophy and an all-expense paid trip to visit Haiti to see the lasting effect of the January 2010 earthquake and gain an understanding of complex relief and recovery efforts. The trip will provide the journalists with an opportunity to witness firsthand the work of CRS and to meet people whose lives have been changed by the generosity of the Catholic community in the United States.

The finalists for the Egan Award were judged by a distinguished panel of judges from the secular media, including Ann Cooper, professor at the Journalism School of Columbia University; Peggy Stack, religion reporter with the Salt Lake Tribune; Kevin Sullivan, deputy foreign editor with the Washington Post; and Howard Weaver, former vice president of news for McClatchy.  

Now in its 15th year, the award is named after Eileen Egan, CRS’ first professional staff layperson, who devoted four decades of her life to assisting refugees and helping the poor in Europe, Asia and Latin America.

For more information about the Egan Award, please visit http://www.crs.org/newsroom/egan-award/.