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Press ReleaseTina Rosenberg Wins the 1996 New York Public Library Helen Bernstein Award for Excellence in Journalism(New York City, April 2, 1996) - The New York Public Library today presented writer Tina Rosenberg with the 1996 New York Public Library Helen Bernstein Award for Excellence in Journalism for her book The Haunted Land: Facing Europe's Ghosts After Communism (Random House). The Award is given annually to an outstanding journalist whose work has heightened public awareness of significant current events, policy issues, and/or social trends through extended analysis of the issues in book form. The $15,000 award, one of the largest literary prizes in the country, was presented to Ms. Rosenberg at a luncheon ceremony held in the Trustees Room of the Center for the Humanities, Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street.Tina Rosenberg's The Haunted Land is a provocative exploration of truth and historical memory in Eastern Europe after Communism. She examines four new democracies -- Germany, Poland, and the Czech and Slovak Republics -- as they attempt to deal with their Communist past. A winner of the 1995 National Book Award for nonfiction, Tina Rosenberg was the first freelance journalist to receive a five-year MacArthur fellowship "genius" award. She has published pieces in The New Yorker, Harper's, and The New York Times Magazine and is also the author of Children of Cain: Violence and the Violent in Latin America. She is now a senior fellow at the World Policy Institute at the New School for Social Research in New York City. The Selection ProcessOne hundred eighty publishers and editors of major newspapers and magazines and publishing house executives nationwide were invited to submit nominations for the award. More than 70 nominations were received and reviewed, resulting in five finalists who were announced during February. A distinguished independent selection committee chaired by Henry A. Grunwald, former Editor-in-Chief of Time Inc., then chose the winner.Members of the 1996 selection committee were: Carl Bernstein, writer and journalist; Osborn Elliott, Chairman, Citizens Committee for New York City, Inc.; James F. Hoge, Jr., Editor, Foreign Affairs; Harold McGraw III, President and Chief Operating Officer, The McGraw-Hill Companies; Henry Muller, Editorial Director, Time, Inc.; Roger Rosenblatt, writer and journalist; Alair Townsend, Publisher, Crain's New York Business; Isabel Wilkerson, Chicago Bureau Chief, The New York Times; and Judy Woodruff, Anchor, Senior Correspondent, CNN. 1996 Award FinalistsIn addition to Ms. Rosenberg, the finalists for the 1996 New York Public Library Helen Bernstein Award were Fox Butterfield for All God's Children: The Bosket Family and the American Tradition of Violence (Knopf); Michael Lind for The Next American Nation: The New Nationalism and the Fourth American Revolution (The Free Press); Robert Timberg for The Nightingale's Song (Simon & Schuster); and Maryanne Vollers, for Ghosts of Mississippi: The Murder of Medgar Evers, the Trials of Byron De La Beckwith, and the Haunting of the New South (Little, Brown).About the AwardThe New York Public Library Helen Bernstein Award for Excellence in Journalism was established in 1987 as part of a generous gift to The New York Public Library, in honor of journalist Helen Bernstein. The gift included an endowment for the position of Helen Bernstein Chief Librarian for Periodicals and Journals, in the General Research Division of the Library. The chair is currently held by Stewart Bodner, who oversees the Periodicals Section's collection of 11,500 current periodicals in 24 languages. This collection is used by some 60,000 researchers annually and is an invaluable resource for writers, artists, journalists, broadcasters, business people, and students.Previous WinnersThis year marks the ninth year that The New York Public Library Helen Bernstein Award has been given to an outstanding journalist. Previous winners are:1995 - Joseph Nocera, for A Piece of the Action: How the Middle Class Joined the Money Class 1994 - David Remnick, for Lenin's Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire 1993 - Samuel Freedman, for Upon This Rock: The Miracles of a Black Church 1992 - Alex P. Kotlowitz, for There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the Other America 1991 - Nicholas Lemann, for The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How It Changed America 1990 - Thomas Friedman, for From Beirut to Jerusalem 1989 - Judy Woodruff, for her series of television reports focusing on the Iran-Contra affair 1988 - James Reston, in special recognition of his 50-year contribution to journalism PRO:jb, th:4/2/96 thoerenz, pro, 4/2/96 |